Saito Hiraga:The Knight of the Silver Light
by Dragolight
Summary: Louise wants a powerful, beautiful familiar? Well be careful what you wish for little miss because can you handle a powerful and handsome Spellsword that can easily top even Brimir the Founder? A super strong, super smart, maybe godly or godlike Saito. No more whippings from Louise, mou just who is the master in their relationship? (A.U. Saito and probably a harem fic)
1. Chapter 1 - A Good Knight Story

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies

There's a picture on my profile for the armor inspiration

Now for the Draconic language (You will see later) I used the online translator at ** draconic . twilightrealm ** (remember to erase the spaces)

If you don't see the link I will also post it on my profile.

################## **STORY** ##############################

The Knight of the Silver Light

In the land of Anhew…

Saito sighed as he cleaved through another krashia. The ruthless monsters were coming at him in numbers that passed the horizon.

'These things just can't take a hint.' he sighed again as he blasted another thousand of them with a powerful silver beam of energy coming out of his left index finger. He looked around and he saw the people he came with before… his party.

They were down and out but, thanks to him, still in the land of the living: Oneas 'The Laughing Archer', 'Bewitching Blades' Kefala, Mika 'The Light of Salvation', 'Nature's Whisper' Sakurai, 'Bottomless Pit' Patosha, 'Honored Knight' Mokoro, 'Blessed Knight' Matoko and Corvine 'The Immortal'... eight of the most powerful S-class warriors that have ever lived in the twelve continents of Anhew.

'_Nif wer fesiri di thurkiitu vur majak astahi martivir, SAVING LIGHT! _' he spoke, the language so powerful that it appeared as though a thousand voices roared at the same time, and with the last syllable his fallen comrades were whisked away by blinding flashes of light. 'Hopefully the healer will be able to save them…' he thought as he swung his sword in a horizontal semicircle creating a crescent blade of energy that ripped apart another thousand krashia.

These monsters were twisted and vile side effects of the 'Midnight of Krasha' where the twelve Chaosmasters of the Order of the Vile Dragon tried to expand their powers by draining the land of Krasha of life. They succeeded partially, where they did absorb all the life giving energies of the land but because it was too much they exploded afterwards sending the energies back to the land but corrupted by their own powers. Now the island continent of Krasha was a deathland where life failed to exist. A dark and swampy land with creatures from the most terrible of nightmares roamed and fought each other for the little life energies that managed to survive, their hunger for them driving them like drugs do an addict and among them the krashia were the top of the food chain; Twisted, horrible creatures without a stable form, twelve meters tall and vaguely orcish in general appearance that rushed anything with life it, swarming like disgusting insects their numbers never usually in the eight or nine figure range but never falling under six.

Even so they were no match for Saito as he cleaved through them like a hot knife through butter while he blasted another group creating a creature-free line as far as the eye could see that he zipped through. He then cut through another group before jumping high in the air and, sending a large fireball from the tip of his sword, cleared a small hill of monsters where he landed. He then gripped the handle with both hands and raised the blade to the heavens as his power started radiating from all of his being.

"_Tiselaiw douhvya, kilith ti majaktor, relgr putole wer thurkiitu vur dronilnr wer gul, ssej vyth vur spol shio ekess wer drasonameko, BLADES OF OBLIVION!"_

And with that he stabbed the ground and a ring of light traveled through the ground going further than the eye could hope to see. In its wake countless blades, each a thirty meters long and half a meter thick, shot out of the ground turning the battlefield in an endless sea of blood and steel, thus the battle… or should I say massacre was finally over.

Saito released a breath of relief, although not particularly tired he was still worried for his friends.

"I knew coming here was a mistake. Why did I let Patosha convince me? Oh yeah, I can't resist that girl's puppy eyes…" he said with a smirk as he took a seat on the cold ground besides his sword. He decided it was time to check on them. He waved his hand in front of his face and a mist like screen formed. It looked like a flying camera was going across the sea at high speeds. After three seconds it reached a beautiful green land and, zipping past some mountains, it showed a beautiful city that looked like something out of a sci-fi and fantasy book with gold and white tear-drop shaped buildings floating at different altitudes amongst the clouds. Going through them the ethereal 'camera' entered the biggest one, located at the center and finally showed the downed members being treated by top-class healers.

'Well they may not be at Mika or my level but they are good enough.' Saito thought and then saw the blond, long-haired Patosha jumping out of her bed at the sight of the food that was delivered to them making Saito chuckle 'Definitely safe…"

Meanwhile in Tristain, Halkeginia…

A young pink curly long-haired loli second year mage-in-training was next in line for the Summoning Servant Ceremony that was designed to bind a familiar to the summoning mage in front of her peer and the professor in charge.

"Hey Zero, try to summon something other than an explosion will you!" yelled another student.

Truthfully, until now she experienced only failures, her attempts at magic always ending up in smoke… literally. It was even a miracle that she managed to even pass the year but now she was determined to summon the most powerful, beautiful familiar.

She took position in the pentagon rune designed to amplify her power and started chanting:

„I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

Back with Saito...

The said boy was ready to teleport himself to his comrades when an oval of light appeared in front of him.

„Well this is new..." he said in surprise. The thing seemed to be friendly, well at least it did not attack him like the rest of the mishaps in this forsaken land so he approached it gently.

‚I feel powerful magic from this thing." he thought as he raised his own energy and channeled it to his hand as he moved closer. When he took another step the power in his hand started growing exponentially ‚What the... Amazing! It seems to resonate with my mana.' and it felt warm, powerful and gentle while at the same time incredibly deadly, similar to the Sun.

As he reached arm's length to the strange construction he stretched his limb to touch it. Though as soon as he did, he was sucked inside of it in a blink of an eye.

Back at the Magic Academy…

Following the girl's chant an explosion rocked the grounds near her.

A red haired succubus-like tan girl broke out of her dust induced cough "Geez Zero, you couldn't forgo the boom at least once in your short magic career?"

Louise was already beginning to feel the weight of another failure when a voice was heard from ground zero.

"_&^^*()^#...**#&&$_ ?"

The voice, although clearly male, spoke in a language nobody could identify. Then the smoke began to clear and out of it appeared a long-black-haired boy who, although seemed to be no older than sixteen, had the body of Adonis, fact which was evident even with the strange armor that he wore. He was looking around, confusion written on his demeanor like the words in a book. His clothing was the strangest thing that they saw in all their life, and considering the wondrous things magic could do, that was saying something. Its arm and leg coverings were of the purest and most beautiful silver weave and its breastplate was black with sky-blue trimmings and in the center was a gem that looked like it was made of quicksilver, with ripples appearing inside. His gloves and footwear was of the same design as the breastplate but lacked the gems. All over the armor, predominantly the trimmings were thin, circuit like lines linking every one of his fingers and toes with the gem and flowing with, what appeared like liquid silver. On his hip was a sword that looked just as deadly as it was beautiful. The handle was silver with a feathered dragon coiled around the place where the handle met the blade, its wings creating the cross-guard.

As he turned towards them a couple of female students nearly fainted. He was the very definition of handsome with his dark ocean-blue eyes and sharp masculine face. The front of his hair was a little spiky but the rest flowed down his back like a waterfall reaching his shoulder blades.

"^&%$...%^&%...^&$...*%#&&…%&$#...&$$*…%^$*((*^$$...*^%&$...?" he spoke again and from the tone they discerned that it was a question but he still spoke beyond their understanding. Still the smile he flashed put the final straw on the girls that were watching and they boarded the train to dream land.

"Who are you?" asked Louise.

Saito was confused. "What happened?" he asked. After he was sucked inside that energetic globe he found himself surrounded by smoke. At first he thought it was another one of Oneas' pranks. For an old man that guy had a very young spirit and a sense of humor that could kill him one of these days. As the smoke cleared he noticed the huge castle-like building near him and decided to examine it from his position. As far as he knew it was not of Human, Elfish, Griholan, Enint, Suan or Vs'shtak architecture. If anything it resembled the old, medieval castles from his native land but with discreet but still noticeable differences. He sighed internally while thinking 'Another world maybe? Not again…'. Having had his fill of the scenery he turned to face the other way coming face to face with a short pink-haired girl that looked like a ten-year old if only a little taller but not very much as she barely reached his shoulder. He was instantly mesmerized by her face and although he didn't realize it at first, it was love at first sight.

"Excuse me miss, could you please tell me where we are?" he asked with a strained voice, barely managing to keep his composure while offering a kind smile so as not to frighten her. He didn't notice the girls who fainted.

"_Qui es-tu?*_" she asked.

'French? But it sounded different, similar to the old one but with a difference in accent. Great… I'm stuck in a place I don't even know the language of. Good thing I know a quick fix for this."

"N'ayez pas peur." he spoke as he gently moved his hand and very lightly grasped her head. He felt her tense under his touch but brushed it aside as he focused his magic.

"_Demak wer treskriri erekess lexri, BRIDGE OF QUILLS!" _

Louise was staring at her supposed summoned being. After she asked her question he got a puzzled expression etched on his face. He seemed to be in thought for a few moments before he spoke, this time the words were understandable albeit barely.

"Do not be afraid." she managed to understand before he touched the crown of her head. She flinched at the contact wondering if he was going to hurt her before he spoke again in a foreign tongue. The voice that exited out of his mouth were no louder than a whisper but she felt them in her very soul and his words came like a quire of a thousand of the most famous singers speaking as one.

"Do you understand me now miss?" Saito asked hoping nothing went wrong with his spell. It was a simple language transfer magic trick but with his power if he didn't watch it he could seriously hurt her.

"I-I understood you!" she stuttered in both amazement and wonder.

Saito sighed in relief "That's good! Well can you please tell me where we are?" he asked with a smile.

Louise nodded and answered "We are in the courtyard of the Tristain Academy of Magic."

Saito nodded in acceptance 'Well that settles it, it's a different world!' he thought. "I see! Thank you and if I may ask, do you know why am I here?"

"You are here because I summoned you to be my familiar!" she answered with confidence, having dreamed of summoning her familiar for a long time that the phrase was buried deep in her mind.

"Familiar?" Saito asked in confusion.

"Yes! All mages summon their familiars when at the academy! Didn't you know that?" she asked appearing a little irked.

Saito chuckled kindly "I am sorry if I offended you with my questions miss..." he said hoping to placate any situations that might arise from the lack of social and cultural discrepancies "I am not of this land."

Now it was Louise's turn to be confused "What do you mean by that?"

"I am… from a faraway place. You probably never heard of my land before as I never heard of a land called 'Tristain'." Saito answered kindly.

"Never heard of Tristain?!" Louise asked in surprise. She didn't know if she should be insulted or concerned "Every country in Halkeginia knows of Tristain! It's where the magic academy is and all mages in the continent study here!" she shouted like he was a child who didn't learn his lesson as ordered.

Saito smiled again "I am not from Halkeginia either."

Then a student started laughing "See he is not a noble at all! Zero summoned a commoner!" and started a chain reaction that spread through the students like a wildfire.

Saito noticed this and he also saw the distressed look on the girl's face. "We can discuss this later in private. You mentioned something about me being your familiar? What is a familiar?"

Louise frowned at his lack of knowledge "A familiar is a servant to the contracting mage."

"I see. And what does a familiar do?"

"A familiar must obey its master's every command and love doing it!" she answered but it seemed like she was telling herself more than she was teaching Saito.

The boy frowned "So a familiar is nothing but a glorified slave to a mage?"

Before Louise could answer a middle-aged nearly bald man in blue robes intervened "Founder no!" he said snapping both of them from their respective thoughts "I'm afraid miss Vallière is confused. A familiar is a mage's partner and protector, his or her other half. It is a servant of sorts but by no means is it a slave. A familiar is cared for by the mage and in turn the familiar cares for the mage." the man explained.

Saito then adopted a thinking pose "So it's a kind of symbiotic relationship?"

The man nodded "Indeed!"

The boy then asked "What happens if the master mistreats or abuses the familiar?"

The robed man was shocked by this question "Founder forbid! There has never been such a case in all of our recorded history! If such a thing happened the mage would become the laughing stock of the magical community and be considered unworthy of their magic! If it ended up to that the mage would be stripped of their noble status and maybe even cast in prison!" the professor answered scaring poor Louise.

Saito could only nod "Understandable… to some extent."

The man nodded with a smile and turned to the girl "Well, get on with it miss Vallière!" he ordered.

Louise nodded with regained confidence and motioned to Saito „Kneel!"

Saito stared at her with a curious look before he smiled and did as she ordered

„What's your name and how old are you?" asked Louise.

„Saito, Saito Hiraga and I'm sixteen years old! A pleasure to meet you... mistress?"

„My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar!" she chanted before she launched in and kissed him on the lips.

Saito for his part was very surprised but it only took a moment to get over it and embraced her, pulling her closer and increasing the passion in the kiss with Louise not fighting it one bit, herself being lost in the heat of the moment.

As they both pulled appart, blushes staining their faces Saito felt a sharp pain in his left hand. He laizily pulled the gauntlet off and saw glowing runes on it. A lesser man would have probably screamed his lungs out before fainting but he just stared at it like it was a nuisence, like a simple rash.

As they faded he saw the runes that were left behind ‚I am a bit rusty in runic but... G-ND-LF, two I don't recognize... maybe Gandálf or ‚gift - need day - water/lake – wealth' so the ‚Day that we need a gift related to wealth and water' or the 'Gift of the day that need will show us the day when water will be our wealth?' That makes no sense! That means that runes are read similar to those from my native land but have different meaning.'

Louise noticing her familiar's expression decided to break the silence „It's inscribing the familiar runes. It will be over soon."

Saito nodded and sure enough the light faded leaving the scar-like runes. He was about to put his gauntlet back on when the professor stepped in.

„Please wait a minute! May I see those runes?" he asked.

Saito looked at him with curioisty „It says Gandalf, unless this land reads them differently?"

Both Louise and the professor looked at him with curiosity „You know how to read them?" the man asked and Saito nodded.

„Ancient languages were part of my training although I don't recognize the second and fifth ones I tried to correlate them with what I knew of the ancient Nordic languages and took a guess and judging by your expression am I right to assume I was correct?" Saito continued.

The professor was even more intrigued by this boy "Yes, yes you were." he answered.

"That's good. Do you by any chance know what it means sir?" Saito asked.

The man took a mental step back and flinched at the question "Umm… n-no I don't!" he answered unconvincingly making the boy frown.

"I am sure you are very good at what you do although I am fairly certain it's not lying and I don't appreciate that. So if you don't want to tell me something please say so but do not lie to me! Although I would be grateful if you told me what it is since it concerns my body and I hope it's not something dangerous for my health." Saito said making the professor sweat and nod.

"I understand young sir but not here." The man whispered and Saito nodded. The professor then turned to the rest of the class "Anybody else?" he asked and nobody stepped forward "Then this concludes the summoning ceremony! Congratulations to everyone! You are dismissed!" he said and every student floated away from the scene.

Once everybody left the professor himself floated a little off the ground and motioned for Saito and Louise to follow.

The little mage started walking and her familiar followed at her side "Aren't we going to float like the rest?" he asked.

Louise looked really embarrassed by his question "S-shut it!" she ordered weakly.

Saito looked puzzled for a bit before asking again "Mistress, could it be that you are incapable of flight?"

Now she was angry "I said to…" she began but the words stopped in her throat as two black 'branches' started constructing themselves from his shoulder blades. As the skeletal rods finished building silver energy 'feathers' appeared below them giving them the general appearance of a large pair of wings.

She didn't get to ask anything as he scooped her up bridal style and gently parted from the ground before moving forward at a slow speed catching up to the professor.

"Y-You're a mage?" she managed to speak.

He on the other hand just looked at her with a kind smile and answered "No mistress, I am not!"

"But you're flying!" Louise countered.

"Oh this? This is just an advanced battle-armor. It is no more magical than a bird is. Think of it like something from hundreds of years into the future." he spoke kindly.

Louise decided to keep quiet for now seeing that they reached the headmaster's office and after knocking, the man entered and motioned for them to follow.

Inside there was an old, or by appearance 'ancient' man who's appearance was the textbook definition of a wizard. He was dressed in a black hooded robe and had long white hair complimented by a longer bushy beard of the same color.

Besides the old man was a young beautiful green-haired woman dressed in a black robe with white trimmings and a dark violet cape.

"Ah Jean, to what do I owe this meeting to?" the old man asked.

"Greetings headmaster! I've come here to discuss something very important concerning miss Vallière's familiar." Jean answered and then turned to Saito "Mister Hiraga, this is headmaster Osmond!"

Saito moved closer and did a refined bow to the man "I am honored to meet you Headmaster!" he then turned to Jean "And please, call me Saito, mister…?"

"Oh, I am professor Jean Colbert!" the man answered.

"An honor to meet you too professor Colbert!" Saito bowed.

Osmond on the other hand frowned "Ah pish-posh what's with this stiff atmosphere in my office? I will have none of that! My boy you can call me Old Osmond like everyone else does!" he continued in a comical fashion.

"Only if you act your age." His assistant responded calmly.

"And she is my cruel assistant Longueville…" Old Osmond continued with anime tears.

"I will stop being 'cruel' when you stop being a pervert.' she continued in the same tone.

"So cold…" a weeping headmaster answered "How is an old man supposed to live like this?" he began talking to himself.

Saito ignored the childish display and moved towards the woman. He then grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly before saying "A pleasure to make your acquaintance miss Longueville! I am Saito Hiraga!"

The woman just smiled "Likewise sir Hiraga!"

Meanwhile Louise was trembling with anger "W-w-what do you think you are doing familiar?!"

Saito looked at her confused "Just greeting miss Longueville mistress. Have I offended you with how I acted?"

"Headmaster I have some business to take care of so I will see you later! It was a pleasure to meet you sir Hiraga!" Longueville bowed and left the office.

Louise was surprised by his answer so much so that all her anger dissipated and she shook her head from side to side. After all he did have great manners and so far has not embarrassed her with how he acted… so far. She was so far in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Saito was already next to her.

Colbert then cleared his throat "Anyway I have come here because we may have found the missing link."

This surprised Osmond "You don't mean…?"

"Yes, apparently Saito is the legendary familiar Gandalf!" Colbert answered.

Louise was confused. Her familiar was legendary but how she didn't know. She decided to intervene "What do you mean professor?"

"It would take too long to explain it fully right now but you did you know that the Founder Brimir had four familiars?" Colbert asked and Louise moved her head for 'no'. "I am not surprised considering that Void magic is not studied at the academy. Well he did: Mjöðvitnir: The Mind of God, Lífþrasir: The Heart of God, Vindálf: The Right Hand of God, and… Gandálf, The Left Hand of God. Saito is a familiar of the Void which means there is a high probability that you are a Void mage miss Valliere."

Louise nearly fainted. She had the same powers as the great founder but she couldn't even do a simple levitation spell. She started losing what little self-confidence she had gathered feeling more and more as a failure.

The girl was about to fall over when Saito put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He had taken his gauntlets off before he entered the office and so Louise could feel the reassuring warmth of his grip. For some reason all her worries vanished.

Saito took this as his turn to speak "I am honored that you would consider my master and I as legendary but this is all terribly confusing. Would you please be so kind as to explain a few things for me?"

"Of course!" Osmond answered.

"Thank you sir Osmond! Now before I ask questions you must know a bit about me and my origins. I suggest you take a seat this could be shocking." Saito continued and they all sat on their nearest seats. "My name is Saito 'Etherion' Hiraga, Grandmaster of the Order of the Silver Dragon, Master of the Ether and the third Dragon-rank Warrior of the Knights of Truth!" spoke Saito, his tone changing from the kind teen to a powerful authority figure, sending shivers up even Osmond's spine. "Before you ask me what these titles mean I will be blunt and tell you: I am from another world!"

"Founder!" shouted Osmond, Colbert being too shocked to speak and Louise was on the boundary between confusion and disbelief.

Finally her disbelief won out "There is no such thing as another world!" she exclaimed.

Saito smiled kindly "Mistress, you don't know of something, doesn't mean it does not exist. After all when you were young you probably didn't know that even other countries existed but as you grew you found out from the people close to you. A closed mind is a fool's mind." Following his words the young mage could do nothing but nod.

Saito then returned to Osmond "And from my past experiences with world travelling I know that the dimensions are always connected and usually special, powerful open gates between them. Have you never experienced any unusual events, well unusual for a place where magic is real? Or have you never encountered strange objects that you didn't know how they came to be or how they worked?"

Osmond's eyes widened with surprise. Saito noticed this "You have, haven't you?" he smirked and gained the attention of everyone else.

The old headmaster nodded and took a deep breath "Indeed I have. It was a long time ago when I was still in my prime, thirty years ago actually. I was being chased by a dragon that was defending its territory and was at the beast's mercy since I had lost my wand. When I was about to be eaten I heard a loud 'whoshing' noise and the beast was defeated by a powerful explosion. When I looked to my side I saw a strange individual dressed in the weirdest of clothing holding a thick metallic staff that gave smoke from the rear. The fellow died from his own wounds before I could bring him medical attention. He had two of these staffs one of which was buried with him as per tradition and the other was locked inside the tower of the academy under powerful square-class magic."

Louise's doubts were crumbling with the headmaster's every words.

Saito on the other hand just nodded "Was this 'staff' by any chance green or dark gray and shaped like a cylinder except for small protruding parts like a firearm? I hope I do not offend you with my question but you do have firearms right?"

Osmond nearly chocked "I am not offended my boy and you are right on both occasions, we do have muskets and the staff you described to the letter! Do you know of this staff?"

Saito chuckled "That thing is no more magical than a musket." he said shocking everyone "It is a weapon from my native land. It is called a rocket launcher and it is for a lack of a better term, a hand-held cannon or a combination between a musket and a cannon. It is a tube that contains a relatively small metal projectile filled with explosive material like the powder that cannons use to fire. That projectile is then lit on the in the rear and the resulting force pushes it through the air towards the desired target. When it makes contact a small flint like device located inside the tip creates a spark that ignites the powder and makes a big boom. The 'whoshing' sound you heard was the propellant burning and the projectile flying through the air. A truly terrifying weapon." the boy explained.

Colbert being passionate by science digested this faster than anyone "So it's a weapon from another world?"

Saito nodded "It is from the junction world called Gaeia in ancient or either Terra or Earth in common language."

Osmond got curious " 'Junction world'?"

The boy nodded with a serious expression "It is a world that links many dimensions together, kind of like the center of the crossroad. It is not the only one mind you but one of many that creates the Multiverse. I'm guessing Gaeia links this world and my homeland Anhew. I was born in Gaeia by the way."

The professors were trying to lift their jaws off the floor. It all made sense and the evidence were undisputable.

Saito noticed this and decided to change the subject "Now I believe you owe me some information if I may."

Osmond shook his head to clear the stupor out and nodded "Yes, now what do you want to know?"

"I have never visited this world so I am for a lack of a better explanation, like a child who only knows how to speak. I want to know basically what would be useful for my life here like politics, geography, history, government , economics, culture, laws, technology and magic, oh and for the first three you can skip the details as I will check on them later."

And so an hour and a half later Osmond finally finished describing the world to Saito and cleared any questions the boy had. In the end Saito was satisfied.

"Thank you sir Osmond! I am quite surprised that even with the addition of magic this place is very similar to Gaeia."

Osmond frowned "What do you mean with 'addition of magic'?"

Saito smiled "With slight exceptions junction worlds do not have magic like link worlds do."

"No magic?!" screamed Louise "Then how do they live?"

"Do you use magic for absolutely everything master? Even eating or bathing?" he asked.

Louise was surprised "Well not for everything…"

The boy smiled kindly "Well in the absence of magic, technology evolved on a much higher level. By what sir Osmond told me your world is about three to six hundred years behind Gaeia. Remember the rocket launcher?" he asked and she nodded "Well that is just a small tickle compared to what evolved. There is light that is given by electricity which is the essence of a lightning bolt, there are metal constructions that fly so fast that if you blink you might miss them, metal carriages that don't need animals to pull them and go so fast that the best horse would be no match for them. Little boxes no bigger than your hand called phones that you can use to make pictures which are similar to paintings of you, send text messages like letters from one to another and even allow you to speak with another person even if that person is on the other side of the world and many other wonders that would be considered magical in a younger world."

"B-But how do you define nobility then?" Louise asked.

This time Saito frowned "You speak those words like it's impossible for things that differ from your standard to exist. I am slightly disappointed but not in you, but in your elders who no doubt desire to wash your personality away and turn you into a slave of the system."

"How dare you!" shouted an angry Louise. This familiar was getting cheeky and now had the gall to call her a slave. The nerve…

"I will rephrase, 'slave of the system' is not to be taken literally but like an expression. It means that you will refuse to accept any other truth that is not the 'truth' that they supply you with. Like what if I told you that commoners do not appreciate most nobles and their rule?"

"That's preposterous! Everyone loves nobles!" she defended almost mechanically.

"And yet rebellions happen, and people suffer, crushed under their noble master's rule. People are not so simple minded and everyone deserves happiness."

"But that's it's their duty to obey their masters!"

"Who set that duty? Was it not the ones with power? I told you that humans are not so simple minded and so long as one still has some degree of power, they can be corrupted by it. Don't tell me you haven't heard of some nobles engaged in more shady business or some who were even disgraced following their actions."

Louise swallowed her words and looked at the familiar in frightened surprise making Saito sigh.

"If you wish we will discuss this later as I am sure that the professors have some questions for me as well."

Colbert stepped up "While that conversation was very interesting to listen to I do have some curious issues that I wish to ask you about."

Saito nodded "Please ask away!"

"When you introduced yourself you said some titles, what do they mean?"

The boy smiled "To understand them I have to explain something about the beginnings of the worlds. At first there was nothing, no space, no time but absolute nothingness. You are imagining it as a complete darkness are you not? Well not even darkness existed then. We as creatures of creation with form can't even imagine the pure chaos that existed then since chaos has no form, no representation it just exists as a concept. Nobody knows how it happened, some say it was an act of God, others think that it was a spark, a chance that shouldn't have happened but creation finally burst into existence and with it the first universe, the primordial world was formed: Anhew. _Anhew_ in draconic means 'jewel' for it was the jewel of creation. It had no land, no water, no sky or life but was just a mass of elements twisting and turning, stabilizing and annihilating themselves constantly. Then it happened. Two entities appeared with the power to control these random events and give them finality.

They were the Great Dragon Twins: Mikael, The Silver Dragon, and Lucifel, The Dragon of Light. They had incredible powers with Mikael controlling the Powers of Creation and Lucifel mastering over the Light of Destruction. You might think that Lucifel was evil, being the Great Dragon of Destruction but destruction is not by itself evil. Destruction is a requirement of rebirth and the other side of Creation. They exist together and cannot be apart, their domains rising when in close proximity to one another. Destruction clears the way for creation to take place. Without it creation would rapidly fill the world and there would be no more space for it to grow and expand leaving it to suffer.

For a long time the two brothers shaped and worked the chaotic infant world turning it into a vision of perfection. But surprisingly this perfection was by nature flawed. Being perfect meant that it couldn't expand and grow and the Great Ones felt like parents would for a child that didn't have the chance to learn and mature so they started over again and again but it would always end up perfect. Seeing this Lucifel decided to break out of the world and channeling his power into a single spot, ripped open the fabric of creation and entered the remnant chaos that circled the infant universe.

Nobody knows what happened to him but eons later he returned and he succeeded but it was at a cost. Most think that his search drove him mad while others think that the Chaos affected him but when he appeared in front of his brother even Mikael was stupefied. His brother, the most beautiful entity in existence was now a formless, twisted, disgusting existence. Even so Mikael welcomed him with all the love and kindness he had. He asked Lucifel how was his search.

That's when it started to crumble. Lucifel answered that he found the answer in the Chaos: The solution was to return all to nothingness!

Thus Mikael realized that this was no longer his brother. The Chaos had corrupted him turning him into the fearsome Rygat: The Vile Dragon of Chaos.

Mikael couldn't let his former brother destroy all that they tirelessly worked for so, with tears in his eyes he fought him, waging a war so great that with each blow the universe twisted and bent until, when the final blow was struck and the brothers annihilated each other, it broke like a droplet hitting a surface creating the Multiverse.

The Great Brothers disappeared from existence but their powers remained. The Powers of Creation: Ether, remained in Anhew, every once in a while surfacing in a gifted warrior. However the Might of Destruction has never appeared once and many thought it was lost. But like I said Creation and Destruction cannot exist without each other so later it was believed that it was somewhere in one of the countless worlds that were given birth by the First War.

I am the current holder of the Powers of Creation, and the third in documented history, the Third Master of Ether. This automatically gives me the position of Grandmaster of the Silver Dragon Order, an order that is dedicated to maintaining peace and protecting Anhew from all threats although the last is symbolical since the worlds have stabilized enough for there to be roughly no threats to it. I am also a member of the Knights of Truth.

Now the Knights of Truth are a society of battle-scholars that study the ancient Draconic texts. You see the first version of the world that the Great Brothers created was ruled by the Darastrixi, or Dragons in common language. These great creatures held the ability of truth gifted to them by the Brothers. Their words carried incredible powers, so much so even that they were incapable of speaking lies. If they tried the world would shape itself based on their words and spiritual power or mana. If they tried to 'lie' more than their powers permitted them then they would vanish from existence so they formed their language on misconception rather than actual negation and thus the _Vs'shtak Xanalre_ or Draconic Language came to be, the Language of Truth. While the ancient dragons disappeared, their writings remained and from it we learned it. I am a master of it and can speak it just as well as an Elder Ancient Dragon can.

Because of this and the Ether I became the third Dragon-class warrior of the Knights of Truth which is a guild of Vs'shtak speakers that are in charge with protecting and nurturing nature as a whole. We are considered the most powerful warriors in the land of Anhew although we do have rankings."

Louise who until now was quietly listening like a child would for a bed time story interrupted "Rankings?"

"Yes, the rankings are based on the threat level each member is capable of reaching. It goes from the lowest D-class to the highest A-class for normal rankings and the special class S. From what I understood from your headmaster, D-class would be equivalent to your world's zero or Dot-rank mages however that is where the similarities end. Our rankings are exponential meaning that each increase in rank means a threat level five times higher than the previous until A-class with S-class starting from at least fifteen times.

Picture it this way a D-class can take on a couple of regular soldiers, C-class can fight with a decent sized squad, a B-class can easily tear through a battalion or two, and A class can fight head to head with an army of a couple of tens of thousands, and finally S-class are capable of conquering countries by themselves. S-class are so powerful that if they desire they can call a meeting with all the rulers of each of Anhew's lands and have them meet within the week and can even pass on laws in some countries without the ruler's permission."

"WOW!" slipped Colbert.

Louise on the other hand frowned "But you said you are Dragon-class or something like that!"

Saito just chuckled "Well Dragon-class is a different story. Like I said to become Dragon-class you need two things. One is to master Vs'shtak language and the second is to have a primordial power like Ether. Dragon-class warriors have enough power… to conquer the world many times over. We are a different existence than even S-class. I for example am the leader of a party formed by eight of the most powerful S-class warriors and they can barely make me sweat when we spar. All of them against me at the same time."

Once again the mages were trying to recover their slacking jaw from the floor. Well at least Osmond and Cromwell were. Louise on the other hand just scoffed. "Well at least you can make up a good story. I haven't heard a good one since my elder sister told me the one about the three Griffins."

Saito looked at her with disbelief before sighing. It appeared that his master was as dense as a brick wall.

Sensing the awkwardness Osmond cleared his throat "Well that was certainly unusual but it's getting late so I suggest that we turn ourselves in for the night. Miss Valliere, Saito, I suggest we keep this secret for now, at least until we find more materials for you to study. Void magic books aren't easy to come by and, founder forbid, could cause an international incident if something were to get out and you couldn't defend yourself, even war."

The mage-familiar pair nodded in understanding

Later that evening…

Saito and Louise entered the dorm room.

"Very spacious accommodations you have here mistress, and it feels very welcoming as well." Saito said being very impressed by the girl's living space.

"Thank you!" she answered.

"May I ask where I shall be settling?"

Louise then pointed to a pile of hey settled unceremoniously in a corner near the door. Saito frowned "I see… I take it you didn't expect to have a human familiar?"

"You are right, and for your information there has never been a human familiar in recorded history. Founder why couldn't I summon a dragon or a griffin! Instead I got a nut-job who thinks himself as powerful as the founder Brimir!" shouted the girl, obviously distraught by her situation.

Saito simply raised an eyebrow "I take it you didn't believe my words?"

"Of course I didn't believe you! Did you think you could fool me like that?" she responded quite furiously.

"I have no intention of fooling anyone mistress." the warrior responded calmly "But alas it is getting late so I suggest that you get some sleep."

"Are you ordering me familiar?" she growled.

"Please do not mix my words mistress, I simply suggested it. It is by your own will if you chose to follow my words." responded the boy after sighing.

"I thought so!" she scoffed proudly.

"What will you do now that you know you are a Void mage?" Saito asked with a concerned voice.

Louise looked at him with a combination of excitement and sadness "Honestly, I don't know. Void magic isn't exactly taught at the academy since it's very rare. Honestly I'm just hoping that knowing my element will help me cast magic better."

"I see…Do you have anything else you wish to speak with me?"

"Yes I do! I want to be woken up at dawn, and a fresh pile of clothes to be waiting for me then. But before that…" she interrupted her words and got undressed not caring for his presence at all. He on the other hand had the decency to turn around but couldn't help sneak a peek during her actions. He managed to see her slender and firm legs and very delicate arms because everything else was covered by her hair. But that was enough for him to cause a smile. "I want these washed before dawn!"

"Understood! Then I shall go and wash these and explore the academy grounds, see you tomorrow morning mistress!"

"Very well, good night familiar!" Louise mumbled through the coverings of her bed.

"Good night mistress!" Saito smiled and closed the door behind him.

He walked unceremoniously through the hallways looking everywhere so he could memorize the layout of the academy building. Even though he could have used an oracle spell he decided that the exercise would be good to calm his nerves. Although he seemed unaffected the events were slowly getting to him. After all if you were taken from your friends and family, from your world and cast upon a relatively speaking underdeveloped land you would have to feel something right?

As he was contemplating his situation he didn't pay enough attention to where he was going and thus crashed into someone.

Siesta was going about her rounds as a maid in an academy full of stuck-up noble brats when she turned the corner and hit something that felt like a brick wall. She recoiled and was heading for the ground when someone grabbed her in mid-fall.

Saito was surprised when the young girl hit his chest but recovered quickly enough to stop her from receiving a painful experience, the little maid not even managing to budge him a hair's width.

"Sorry for that miss, I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was walking!" he apologized.

Siesta opened her eyes and they were met by a sight that brought all the blood in her body to her cheeks. By the founder he was handsome and his armor appeared to be something out of those novels she reads in her very little spare time. But what attracted her the most, were his eyes. Those deep blue eyes that made her feel safe and comfortable, like she was strolling on the beach looking out to the ocean. She then realized something he could be a noble and that spelled trouble for her.

"I-I'm sorry milord! I wasn't paying attention!" she quickly apologized.

" 'Milord'? Oh by the stars, I hope you don't mistake me for being part of these pompous peacocks! I am certainly not a noble, well not of Halkeginia anyway. Oh but where are my manners, I am Saito Hiraga, and please refer to me as Saito, nothing more!" he said with a smile that nearly knocked her unconscious.

"Th-thank you mi… Saito! I am Siesta!" she bowed.

Saito took her hand and kissed it gently "A lovely name and an interesting choice from your parents!" he said raising her curiosity and excitement "Were I come from 'siesta' can form part of two sentences which loosely means either 'midday nap' or 'the hottest part of the day'. If your parents had any knowledge of this expressions then that would describe your personality as very energetic, but still as pleasant as a good day's nap."

"I-I had no idea about those words but t-thank you!" she said while doing a pathetic job at hiding her blush "M-may I ask what you were doing here?"

Saito on the other hand looked surprised "Ah! I almost forgot! I'm supposed to clean mistress's laundry but I don't even know where the nearest water supply is in this place." he said with a sour look.

The young maid looked at the clothes and instantly recognized them "Are you by chance miss Valliere's familiar?"

Saito nodded "News travels fast I see… Yes you are correct but how did you guess?"

Siesta just giggled a little "Well if I told you I could get into a lot of trouble with your mistress."

"Your secret is safe with me!" he said while holding his hand over his heart.

The maid giggled again and pointed at the blouse and panties "Well first of all there is a skirt but no chest garments not to mention the size of the blouse. So unless your master is a visiting child then there is nobody else to fill those clothes in the academy."

Saito nodded in acceptance "Well I do admit that she is a tad bit underdeveloped in the womanly department but that's what makes her adorable. Although she could do without the snotty attitude…"

Siesta nodded "Please let me handle those, it is my job after all!"

The warrior politely refused "No, I can't load you with more chores then you already have. Besides these are my master's orders, although I wouldn't refuse your help in touring the premises if you have the time. That is after I take care of my master's laundry."

Siesta smiled and led him to the washing area. "Well this is where we wash the noble's clothes. I hope I'm not insulting you Saito but you have to be careful with those. Silk must be dried in the shade."

Saito nodded "Although I already knew that I appreciate your help. I will be sure to repay the gesture somehow and I think I have a pretty good idea on where to start." he said as he unceremoniously threw the clothes in the air. Siesta nearly panicked when she saw this but boy was she surprised.

The clothes stopped their descent in midair and stretched and turned until not a single wrinkle could be spotted.

Saito then lazily stretched his right hand and a pinkish mist started forming just a little in front of his fingers. The mist then shot at high speeds towards the clothing and went right through them leaving them looking brand new and smelling like roses.

"You-you-you're a mage!" spoke Siesta in fright and wonder.

Seeing the poor maid's reaction Saito gently touched her shoulder "Listen Siesta, do not confuse me with the mages of this world. By definition I am not even a magus but a Spellsword, a different class all together but that is beside the point. I will not harm you in any way, neither physically or mentally no matter what you do so long as you don't harm the innocent. I do not wish to be neither your master nor your executioner but simply a friend. Yes I can do magic but by no means am I of this world's nobility so please don't be afraid of me!"

These words had gotten their desired results as the young maid smiled again and hugged him deeply. "You don't know how happy that makes me Saito! I don't have a single friend around my age here!" then the thought recoiled "You are my age right?"

"I am sixteen miss so I don't know if I am and it would have been rude of me to ask." he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yes!" shouted siesta although it was muffled by her burying her face in his biceps. He held her like this for another minute before they parted. Siesta then noticed that Louise's clothes were already set to dry perfectly. "What now?" she asked.

Saito then smirked "Now I will show you the wonders of mixing science and magic together!" he spoke and then snapped his fingers. Immediately after he did that, small glowing particles began to rise from the earth and rotate around like a twister of light before heading back to the ground and forming a metal box with a lid-like disk at the top, half the size of an adult human. It was an interesting construction. On the right of the box was a vertical metal cylinder about fifty centimeters wide that had a small grill door at the bottom and at the top a metal rod protruded from it which was connected to another rod which in turn was connected to the lid-like disk. It had other strange protrusions that were too strange for the girl to explain.

"What is that?" she asked.

Saito chuckled at her puzzled expression "This, my dear, is a baby of science made possible here and now with the help of magic. Siesta I present you the steam powered washing machine! Now where do you keep the day's laundry?" he asked and she pointed to a nearby basket.

Saito picked up the basket and after checking the materials dumped the ones that would not stain the others or rip inside the box. He then conjured a large bucket of water and loaded it inside a side tank. He then conjured a rose and a large log and ripped the petals and then throwing them inside the box while inserting the log inside the cylinder and lighting it on fire by conjuring a simple flame.

"This big lever on it is how gentle or firm you want it to wash. To the furthest left is silk and to the right end is wool and the in between… well I think you can picture it. As for how long it should wash well basically when that log burns completely the washing should be over. I am truly sorry that this world hasn't discovered electricity yet but this should be just as good. I could have made something with a generator but if it breaks then nobody besides me could fix it. This on the other hand could be easily patched together by a blacksmith."

As soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, the cylinder hissed and the rod connecting to it started moving up and down while driving the connected components. Siesta watched in amazement as the 'lid' spiraled and plunged up and down into the box. Finally she got the courage to move to Saito's side and peeked inside to see the clothes being handled by the strange device, the grime being forced outside of them by the strong pressure of the metallic arm.

Saito then conjured a couple dozen more logs and a hexagonal piece of metal "If the logs run out and I am not here the one responsible should put the equivalent amount of lumber as that metal hexagon weighs. I think that with experience the weight will not be needed but it's good to keep that for beginners." he explained and saw the surprised and excited look on Siesta's face which made him smile.

"Happy?" he asked and barely braced himself as the young maid circled his neck with her arms and they started spinning around.

Saito and Siesta then spent a little time exchanging small talk why the steampunk washing machine did its job. Saito got to learn a bit more about this new world and Siesta listened to the Gaeian poetry that the boy knew so well.

Finally they parted with Siesta heading for the servant's quarters and Saito searching for a place to nap a few hours since his powers fed his body with energy he really only needed about an hour of sleep per day so that his mind would clear and sort itself out. Other than that he was as energetic as a normal person, perhaps even more during … bed activities but that is moving too much in the private zone.

Anyway as he strolled down the hallway he saw a blond boy who he recognized as one of the spectators from the summoning. He was sweet talking a girl and talking about a soufflé or something. Really, its guys like these that ruin a man's image. I mean it was as obvious as the sun during daytime that this guy thought more with his lower regions, meaning his stomach and … mini him. After all when males were created they were two headed but unfortunately they didn't have enough blood for both.

Anyway he decided that even this Casanova deserved his privacy, well at least the sucker… I mean female did so he went about his way. Finally he didn't find any other place to sleep so he did the next best thing. He climbed on the thickest branch of the tree nearest to Louise's room window and went to sleep.

In the morning…

"Wake up mistress. Come on Louise wake up." Louise was gently woken up by the kind and beautiful voice of a man.

"Ungh …five more minutes daddy!" she dug deeper inside the coverings.

Saito chuckled at the cute show he was getting "Come on dear master, you don't want to be late for breakfast now do you?"

These words snapped the girl out from her slumber induced dizziness. She put on a cute pout that almost made Saito loose his composure and asked "Who are you?"

The boy didn't answer but instead brought a moist towel and gently rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Oh yeah, I remember now… my crazy familiar Saito…" she said keeping the pout.

'You know if somebody said those words to me in my homeworld they would be stripped naked, coated in honey and thrown to the imperial ants by my subordinates. And those critters are the scariest family of goliath-ants in the two worlds and their venom is rivaled only by the bullet ant of Gaeia.' the boy shuddered at the thought of those things but then an unpleasant odor hit him square on.

*snif*"Mistress when was the last time you took a bath?" he asked.

"Well bathing days are Mann so seven days ago, why?" she answered.

Saito frowned "Great heavens, no wonder the air smelled like a dead fish!" he exclaimed.

Louise perceived that jab and her face went red with anger. She grabbed her wand and pointed it at Saito who simply slapped it away surprising her out of her rage.

"There will be time for magic practice later mistress!" he said as he scooped her up bridal style and flew out the window and headed for the Tower of the Void (as he heard it was called by Old Osmond) since he knew it was unoccupied.

He then flew through the window and landed near a huge pot filled with steamy water showing that it was hot, as he made his way to the cooking appliance.

"W-w-what are you d-d-doing?" stuttered Louise.

"Taking you to your bath mistress." he spoke with kindness.

"That's not a bath you moron, that's a pot!"

"I never said it wasn't improvised."

She then noticed some bubbles floating on top of the water and then the smell hit her "Why does it smell of roses?"

"That's from the rose soap I used to prepare the water." Saito explained

"Stop! I order you! Hot water combined with soap is deadly!" she screamed and struggled in his grip but felt him stop.

"How deadly is it master?" Saito asked faking ignorance.

"I would die as soon as I touched the water!" she screamed again.

Saito on the other hand smiled at her cute display "Well then mistress by your logic, I should have died countless times by now, ending with last night but as you can see I am just fine. I not only guarantee you that you will live but you will feel great after it. On my honor as your familiar!

The girl was absorbed by his words so much so that she didn't notice that he reached the edge. He then moved his hands in such a way that she slipped out of the pink nightgown and into the water, the clothing remaining inside Saito's hands.

She then appeared as though she was struggling not to drown and was frantically trying to get out of the pot when she heard Saito speaking "I suggest that you hurry up and wash yourself master or you will miss breakfast. Also you will not receive one article of clothing until I am satisfied with the state of you hygiene so unless you wish to run halfway across the campus in your birthday outfit you will calm down and comply with my words!"

On the other side of the coverings the young warrior felt her tension and the tears that were threatening to break loose in the back of his mind and he suspected the runes having something to do with this so he sighed and spoke "Louise, please calm down! I give you my word on all that is holy and sacred to me that you will not be harmed! So please breathe deeply and relax and enjoy the feeling of the heat on your body. Nobody that I know of has ever died from this and I know millions of people who partake in this kind of cleansing. Please trust me this one time!"

With that he waited a few more tense moments before finally felling her nervousness subside. After another amount of time he heard her sigh in happiness 'It seems that at least she trusts me.'

Ten minutes later and a little splashing of the water and Saito thought that it was enough. He didn't want her to catch a cold after all.

"That should be enough little master!"

Louise was finally enjoying the feeling of the heat taking away the strain from her muscles when she heard him speak. That brought a groan to her voice "F-Five more minutes…"

Saito chuckled "I'm happy to know that you are enjoying yourself but you will miss breakfast at this rate."

She then realized that he was right so now there was no choice "How do I get out?"

"There are steps on the other side of the pot so you can use those. I have also left a towel for you there. So dry your hair with that and then wrap your body in it and I will bring the clothes. Call for me when you are ready."

Five minutes later and she called.

He moved the curtain aside and came in with a fresh uniform set which she reached for but he stopped her.

"Not yet! First I need to dry you thoroughly so please secure your towel!" he said as the wings appeared on his back.

He started flapping them creating a gentle gust of wind.

Louise was once again surprised by her familiar's actions and was even more surprised by the fact that the air coming from his wings was very warm and relaxing and carried the same smell of roses that the bath had.

A few more flaps later and Louise was dry. She then dropped the bomb when she ordered her familiar to dress her.

"Excuse me mistress? Are you saying that I should dress you?" he asked.

She simply nodded with a cute royal expression.

"I would be happy to help you but I absolutely won't do the undergarments! I am still a man and I will be true to my code of honor, familiar or no familiar!"

"You dare disobey your master?" Louise fumed in anger.

"A master who is now as powerless as a lamb so I suggest you to keep your orders decent if you wish to see your wand again!" he spoke with the same tone of authority that had come in the headmaster's office.

Louise realized that he was right and she was at his mercy so decided to play it cool for now. Stupid familiar, she would make sure to discipline him later.

Later in the dining room…

Louise felt nervous as she ate her meal with all her fellow students looking at her. The reason for this was the fact that Saito stood like a bodyguard directly behind her in an imposing and intimidating stance as the silver hilt of his sword glistened in the sunlight.

"Familiar, sit down already!" she whispered.

"I already told you master, I will not be treated like a mindless beast so unless you invite me to sit on a chair I will stand right here." he spoke with a little annoyance.

Earlier when they made it to the dining room Saito pulled her chair and did everything he could to make sure she was comfortable and then tried to take a seat next to her but she stopped and pointed him to the floor. That's when things went to hell in a hand basket. From there on he simply stood like a statue behind her not even batting an eyelash. In fact if he didn't blink every now and then you would think that somebody cast some kind of petrification spell on him.

Louise finally gave in and let him sit on the chair next to her and surprisingly it made most of the students return to their own business making her sigh in relief.

After eating breakfast they made their way to the class room where Louise planned a similar scene from the dining room but having learnt her lesson let him sit this time without any opposition.

As he looked around the classroom Saito couldn't help to be amazed at the creatures that the students managed to summon. They all appeared to feature in at least one of Gaeia's legend or story.

Just as he was analyzing one strange floating eye a plump middle-aged woman entered the room. She had brown hair and purple robes and hat.

„Well everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a stunning success. I always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring." she said while looking around finally landing her gaze on Saito and Louise. "My, my, you've summoned quite an... unusual familiar, miss Valliere."

While the words held no malice the classroom exploded with laughter.

„Louise the Zero! Don't go around kidnapping random commoners off the street just because you couldn't summon!" a blond haird chubby kid barked making Saito frown deeply.

‚For that kid's sake I hope he shuts up!' thought the familiar.

Louise defended „No! I did everything by the book but he was all that appeared!"

"Don't lie! You can't do any spell, not even 'Summon Servant' properly, right?" and with those words Saito's patience damn broke.

"Madam Chevreuse! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!" Louise pleaded but it fell on deaf ears. She looked at the professor with surprise since the woman appeared to be stunned by something. Then she noticed the disappearance of her familiar and, following the professor's line of sight found Saito staring right into Malicorne's face, the young mage sweating with fright as the familiar's wings were spread menacingly above him.

"Tell me brat… have you ever seen the horrors of war? Have you ever fought for your food at least once? Or tell me… have you ever suffered pain of torture?" Saito asked in a sickeningly sweet voice "Looking at you I would say that you haven't even 'suffered' a morning's exercise but I would be more than happy to complete all those questions for you, and all you have to do is insult my master one more time and there will be no place on this planet where you will be safe! So tell your classmates that I send them a message. Laugh at my master's expense again and I promise you… " his eyes shined with red light as his sclera went black but only Malicorne saw this as Saito came in and whispered into his ear "_I…will… __**slaughter you all**_!"

Saito then smiled kindly and returned to his seat while a strange stain appeared on the fat boy's pants. Malicorne quickly excused himself and rushed out the room.

The boy warrior then thought that a diversion would be in order "I am terribly sorry for the show earlier professor and I hope my method of restoring order didn't upset you in any way!"

The woman flinched slightly before nodding "Well it was unusual to say the least but you have got to show me how you did it. There has never been this much silence with people in this room." She said jokingly. "Anyway some of you may know but I am professor Chevreuse, my runic name is The Red Earth and I will be teaching you about earth magic. The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals, raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

Saito nodded ‚So earth magic is like this world's technological field... Interesting!' the boy nodded.

The professor then produced some coal and waved her wand, turning them into shiny golden metal.

„Is that gold?" shouted one red-haired seductress.

Chevreuse smiled „Nope, it's brass! I am still a triangle mage. Gold can only be made by square class mages."

Saito nodded yet again ‚It appears that they suppliment their lack of basic chemical knowledge with raw power to force the transformation. With a little knowledge even a D-rank Elementalist can create gold although since the magical aura remains detectable it is only worth as a quick way to obtain materials for a project.'

The professor then turned to the class „Anybody want to try? How about you miss Valliere?"

The whole class erupted in protests with some running out the door and others ducking under their desks as the girl made her way to the coal pieces.

She then pointed her wand at them and more students tried casting their strongest wards, all in the gaze of a curious Saito.

Louise focused her magical power in her wand and channeled it to the rocks.

Saito smiled 'That's it Louise, nice and steady...' he began but the rocks started glowing violently 'Wait! Can it really be…? OH HEAVENS ,NO!' he thought and abruptly stood up "Louise! Think of diamonds!" he yelled as he reached out with a hand and started chanting an improvised spell "_Origato sia vers erlelee wer Mitne di Bekilip!"_

The girl was so much in focus that when she heard the familiar's voice her mind's eye switched instantly to the most beautiful image of a diamond one could think of as the light of her element covered her and the entire class.

When it was over the students who until then were praying for safety gently peeked out from underneath their desks.

What they saw made their jaws unhinge themselves. There was no destruction anywhere, no smoke or fire. As they focused their sight they followed the stupefied Louise and Chevreuse's lines of sight and looked towards the desktop.

Instead of the three pieces of coal that once stood there now a single flawless transparent sparkling gem stood there. Some of the more spoilt girls in class instantly recognized the piece.

"Is that a diamond?!" one blonde girl screamed as her frog familiar croaked above her head.

Chevreuse then took the gem in her hand and producing an eyepiece from her robes looked at it closely.

"No it's not." she said making poor Louise's hopes drop "It is not just **a** diamond but it's the most beautiful and perfect one I have seen in my entire life! Even square class mages would have great difficulty producing this quality!" she answered making the pink haired mage's heart skip a beat. "How did you manage something like this miss Valliere?"

Louise was surprised by that question "I don't know professor! I was trying to create brass like you but when I felt like I was losing control I heard my familiar scream to think of diamonds and everything became super easier after that." the girl confessed.

"Really?" the professor asked and then turned to Saito "Why did you shout at her to think of diamonds mister familiar?"

Saito then sighed in relief and smiled "Well professor, I noticed that the people of this land have limited knowledge of the makeup of matter. Particularly coal and diamond are roughly made of the same stuff called carbon."

"What do you mean mister familiar?" Chevreuse asked. If anything she was now even more confused.

Saito sensed this and sighed "Where I come from we have a science called 'chemistry'. It is the equivalent of alchemy but it studies more of the interactions between different forms of matter. Anyway, a long time ago someone invented a device that was essentially a very powerful spyglass and used it to look at mater. He found that even very smooth things were essentially rough once you saw them magnified. Years later it was discovered that matter is in fact formed essentially of three kinds of particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons in different forms or states. How these particles combined formed the final states of matter called atoms. Everything you see is made of atoms. Our bodies are formed of roughly ten to the power twenty-six atoms for your foot only. That's one followed by twenty-six zeroes, the atoms are just that many.

Anyway, carbon usually forms coal or graphite under normal conditions but when a huge amount of energy is supplied it changes its internal bonds, or simply said the atoms move in such a way that it forms diamonds."

The boy then fished underneath his breastplate and produced a brown simple-paged book "I have most of the simpler information written here on this book should you desire it. With the right information even a dot class earth mage should be able to say turn lead into gold." he said making the womanizer boy from last night look at him with attention. He then handed the book to the professor who read a few lines from it becoming more and more interested.

Saito chuckled "I guess class is dismissed?"

Chevreuse snapped out of her stupor and nodded before saying "And miss Valliere, you can keep the gem!"

Saito thought he managed to divert their attention when a small thin blue haired girl approached him "…Saw…you… magic…" and left just as quickly.

"Oh boy!" Saito thought "This could get troublesome…"


	2. Chapter 2 - A Knight to Remember

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies

There's a picture on my profile for the armor inspiration

Now for the Draconic language (You will see later) I used the online translator at **draconic . twilightrealm **(remember to erase the spaces)

If you don't see the link I will also post it on my profile.

This chapter will begin to explain the reason (but will not give you the reason as it is but you will have to piece it together yourself :-P) why Saito acts like a butler to Louise when he is the strongest thing in the Multiverse.

################## **STORY** ##############################

It was late at night and all students were asleep. Outside, perched on a thick branch Saito was contemplating the day's revelations. 'It's official! I had my doubts but now it's clear: Void magic is the lost Light of Destruction.'

No wonder the students claimed that Louise couldn't do magic. Nothing but long, ancient incantations and Vs'shtak could control a Primordial Power, especially the Light. Ether was by nature calm and collected, like love and compassion, like the Moon. Amuul, the Vs'shtak name for Void was volatile and energetic, like anger and rage, like the Sun. And yet, without these two, life just wouldn't exist.

Now Saito had a made his resolve. He was going to teach Louise everything he knew, Vs'shtak Xanalre, Ancient Languages, rune scribing, meditation and many others. He would have to become the girl's tutor. This world's magical language was terribly inefficient, he thought, so why did it last until now?

The answer came to him almost immediately: Familiars. Familiars that protect a mage while the said magus casts spells; Loosely said: the bigger the boom, the more time it took to say the spell and the more chances the mage could be killed, so mages needed familiars like they needed wands.

That's where Vs'shtak differed from any other magic systems. You could potentially clear a battlefield with a single word although it came with disadvantages: the same word, if not guided properly could destroy the world or the magus in question.

Take the word '_svent_'. Svent means 'destroy'. Such a simple word but spoken freely it would simply destroy everything until your power was spent and then would take your life-force to power itself until it took everything that made you, you, and converted it into your word which, devoid of a power source would finally stop its effect.

You could say '_Svent wer irlym esostek di ve!',_ translated as 'destroy the enemy in front of me' but it would have the same effect destroying everything hostile that is in front of you until you cancel it out with another phrase or you cease to exist.

That's why Vs'shtak Xanalre chants are vaguely poetic in nature. Poetry transfers the feelings of the mage with the words and those said feelings form limiters. Take for example BRIDGE OF QUILLS; the incantation for that _Demak wer treskriri erekess lexri_ translates as ‚join the worlds through words'. Even for Vs'shtak, how could words 'join' worlds? That's where the feelings of the warrior came into equation.

Saito understood this early on and it was what allowed him to completely master the coveted First Language in only two years, completely shattering the previous record of seventy one years. Of course you could say that he cheated a little by using a spell to transfer the words to his mind but one thing was to know the words and a completely different thing to know how to use them. The last thing was something that no spell could transfer to you without severe consequences to your very spirit something that happened to Teargoleth the Broken.

Now thinking of Teargoleth brought sadness to the young warrior's heart.

He was once a promising young Suan. A race of gifted weapon users, Suan were the keepers of the land of Elysia, a mountainous continent in the world Anhew. Proud, graceful beings roughly humanoid in shape with the beauty of elves and two pairs of golden wings with small bundles of feathers on the back of each calf they roamed the skies of the world, singing songs that were as wondrous as their blades were fierce.

Teargoleth was once called the "Star of Elysia" for there had not been a more gifted and eager son of Sua for seventeen generations and was Saito's brother in all but blood. They fought together, trained together, ate together and were even punished together, always because of the trouble the young Suan generated.

But his last 'blunder' proved to be his undoing…

"Teargoleth stop!" shouted a ten year old Saito from behind the bars "Don't do it!"

"It's always you! It's always Saito did this, Saito did that! Always being told to be more like you! Why must it always be like this?" cried Teargoleth as he unfurled a strange dust-covered scroll "I always train so hard that my muscles scream and my hands bleed! I work more than our trainee classmates put together but what does it get me? Nothing! All I get is punishments for the most meager of things while our so called comrades get away with anything and are praised for things that we do in our sleep!"

"What is going on here?!" a deeper voice roared through the chambers.

"Master Corvine!" spoke the two preteens in union.

Corvine, a bald-headed but still young man ran from behind Saito and much like the boy, tried to force the bars to open but they were locked tight and reinforced with magic.

Teargoleth smirked as he saw the man trying to unlock the bars. It was quite amusing to see an intimidating thirty-year old man, dressed in black matrix style robes and with black eyelids struggle like a prisoner against the grate. "It's useless master, I wordlocked the gate!"

"Teargoleth, stop this madness!" the man shouted.

The winged child laughed "Why, so you could punish me again? So you could say how useless my efforts are again? Well, no more! Once I unlock the Wisdom of the Dragon I will be the master!"

"Stop child! That spell is too dangerous and was not meant for the common mortal! Enough with this!" shouted Corvine with genuine concern.

Teargoleth snarled "Like you care about me!"

Corvine looked surprised "But I do child! I do like a father does for a son!"

The boy looked surprised and confused. He slowly clenched the scroll in his hands as he pondered his master's words… and the more he thought the angrier he got. "Lies! If you did then why didn't you ever show it? All I ever get from you are complaints, chores and punishments!"

The man frowned with sadness "I only wanted to push you into the right direction! I thought that if I praised you it would go to your head and I punished you so that you would learn about consequences and restraint! I'm sorry if I've been too hard on you, child! Now please put down that scroll!" Corvine admitted.

"Lies and more lies! But no more! With this I will finally be free of you!"

Saito rattled the bars with tears in his eyes "But that spell is forbidden! It will destroy you!"

The Suan offered his brother a kind smile "If it will, then that will be my fate… _Fehlim ve wer Naam di wer Darastrixi_, DRAGON'S DREAM!"

With that a bright light enveloped the scene. It lasted no more than three seconds but it might as well have been three eternities. When it was finally over Saito and Corvine were greeted by the sight of a laughing, glowing Teargoleth.

"Ahahaha, I feel it! I feel the Vs'shtak Xanalre's power!" he said and then resumed laughing. Although it soon turned into screams of pain.

Saito was tearfully banging on the bars so hard that blood started flowing from his fists.

After the screams, Teargoleth started to spasm like crazy, foam forming at the mouth.

"Teargoleeeeeeeth!" cried Saito.

The shout seemed to bring the Suan back to normality if only barely. Teargoleth then looked at Saito and was surprised to see the young human's hands glow with power so great that it started to warp the magically enforced _silny_ bars. This brought a smirk to his pained expression. Then he breathed out the last words he will ever speak again.

"Goodbye… brother…" and he collapsed.

What followed was absolute silence that seemed to stop even the flow of time. Even though mere seconds passed, for both Corvine and Saito it felt like centuries as they stared at the vacant, empty… lifeless expression in Teargoleth's eyes the later of the two being petrified, not even daring to blink.

"_Drevab wer ifni_." the boy spoke calmly, without any emotion or humanity present in the words… and the gate separating him from his friend exploded creating a hole in the wall ten times the width of the metal construction.

If the man was ever to be surprised, now was the time. The walls and gates were enforced with 'silny' or adamantine alloy and were said to be nearly indestructible, even resisting the will of masters of Vs'shtak.

Saito slowly made his way to his brother's fallen form then gently knelt to his side and lifted his head off the cold floor. They simply stared into each other's eyes for some time…

Corvine then punched the wall creating a dent in the hard rock "Damn it! Why didn't that boy listen?"

[Silence]

"Shut… up…" Saito spoke softly.

"What?" asked a surprised Corvine.

No sooner than the words left his mouth that the area was eloped in a bright light as the ground began to shake violently. The man turned around and saw Saito in the middle of what seemed to be a tornado of silver light, the power so great that it rocked the very world to its roots.

"It's… your … fault…" muttered Saito as he slowly rose to a standing position. Then turning to the man, his face was fixed in a murderous look

"It's your faaaauuullt!" shouted the boy, the tornado of light exploding outwards in a torrent of flame-like light.

The man could barely chant for a ward when the light hit him and he was blasted into a far corner of the room and buried under a ton of rocks.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh….!" cried Saito in fury, channeling his anger into his power as the tornado began to rip everything apart except for a small dome in which the two boys stood.

Hours passed and it was finally over, the boy's anger was dispelled. In his wake nothing else stood except mounds of rubble and a couple of decent sized boulders. They were the only remnants of a once majestic construction, now reduced to a kilometer wide crater.

Slowly Saito looked around and when he saw what became of the place he dropped to his knees and embraced his brother, tears breaking freely from his eyes.

A moment later he felt two strong, firm arms embrace him fully and turned to see a dusty Corvine consoling him. Apparently his ward prevented him from being crushed by the boulders that in turn prevented him from being pulverized by the frightening power coming from Saito. It was an ungodly moment of pure luck that saved him.

From that day forward Corvine was known as The Immortal and Teargoleth, the rising 'Star of Elysia', their hope, their greatest was forever mentioned as simply Teargoleth, The Broken. It was also the event that changed Saito into who he is today and the moment when his true powers were revealed.

Now Teargoleth lived, but some consider that it would have been better if he would have died. Being reduced to a state no better than a vegetable was not a fate to admire. Even so, he still made the history writings, not as a fool but as the Third Eatherion's brother. Of course there were some who tried to make a fool out of him but they were completely and utterly crushed and it became an unspoken law in Anhew that disrespecting the former Suan warrior-in-training was strictly forbidden, least you wish to bring the wrath of the Knights of Truth and the Silver Dragon Order upon you. While no physical means were employed, speaking bad things about Teargoleth meant that you were no longer welcomed by the Orders in any form or shape. This was similar to excommunication by a middle-ages church and to not be seen as a friend of the Knights was a disgrace of the highest level and could cause entire businesses to crumble, families to part and could even make a government suspect you of treason. The Orders were just that powerful.

In the end Teargoleth's story became a sad ballad of a lonely child desperate for attention and was a stunning success with the audience, raising enough funds for the Silver Dragon Order to build and renovate hundreds of orphanages in his honor.

Saito in his sixteen years of life gave many orders, both off and on the battlefield but his one and only command was that Teargoleth be honored and cared for, no matter what. And there was not a free day that Saito didn't visit the Suan.

With that memory Saito finally went to sleep…

The next day we find Louise and Saito slowly making their way to the courtyard.

"Do you not have classes to attend to master?" Saito asked peeking out of the book he was currently reading.

"Today is the day of the Void so we have the day off to bond with our familiars. By the way, what is that book you are reading?"

"Oh this is just a book about this world's dragons. I was quite surprised when sir Osmond told me that there are dragons here, but reading this it turns out that they are more similar to drakes than anything else." Saito explained.

"Drakes?" asked Louise curiously.

"Drakes are creatures with dragon forms but their power is incomparably lower than the actual thing. If anything, from this book, only rhyme and ancient dragons come close to a dragon from my homeland but it's still like comparing a simple candle to the Sun." smiled the teen.

Louise only scoffed "Whatever." Her screw-ball familiar was still going on with other worlds and stuff.

They reached the courtyard and saw many students, predominantly second years playing with their familiars.

They eventually found a place to sit, with Saito still reading the book and Louise thinking about her Void abilities. She was going to have it rough since, to her knowledge, she was the only one with this power in all of Halkeginia.

However she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when the dark-skinned seductress from her class unceremoniously sat down at her table. At her feet was a huge dark red lizard with a flaming tail.

„Hello Zero, this seat was not taken right?"

„Zerbst, what do you want?" Louise growled.

„Oh, I'm just waiting for Tabitha and I got tired of standing. You don't mind do you?" she purred.

Saito who took a peek out of his book decided to intervene „There should be nothing wrong with that miss. After all bonding with classmates is just as important as bonding with your familiar. This is how strong friendships are forged. That is... if your intentions are indeed friendly."

„Oh my, what a... deliciously refined familiar you have Zero. So unlike the master..." she sighed playfully but then leaned in towards him and made all efforts to uncover as much of her chest as decently possible „Perhaps you could give him to me. I could find a great deal of ... uses for him." she chirped.

„Mind your own business beast!" she roared at the woman but backed off when the salamander growled.

„Why not let him decide? How 'bout it big boy, would you like to come with little old me?" she purred in his ear „I could make it worth your time more than Zero-chest ever could..."

Meanwhile Saito didn't even seem fazed by the red-haired succubus as he simply turned the page „I am sorry miss but my duties lie with my master, so please stop trying to seduce me. I may be a man but I am first a gentleman and I will not disgrace myself or my master by mindlessly responding to your advances." he said before he closed the book.

"Pitty…" she sighed.

Meanwhile Louise felt a little amazed at her familiar's collectiveness and loyalty. She was seriously thinking that he would leave her the moment Zerbst offered him the chance.

Saito then saw the Salamander curiously approach him and the boy offered a kind smile to which the fiery familiar answered with a croak of some kind. "My, what an interesting creature you got here miss. A flame salamander if I'm not mistaken…"

Kirche smiled and nodded "That's right, he's my darling Flame!" she said as she gently petted the beast's back while it was still curiously looking at Saito with a little retention.

Saito nodded "Oh and if the legends are correct then they are powerful but playful creatures."

The woman looked at him with a surprised look "I don't know of a legend that speaks about salamanders but this one does describe him quite accurately."

This time Saito frowned "Pity he doesn't seem too smart…"

Kirche received a tick mark "Oh yeah? How so?"

The warrior then bent down until he was practically touching noses with the beast "He growled at my master…" he smiled with his eyes closed "I'll admit that I'm quite the fan of frog's legs but if he does it again…" he opened them and the eyes were once again red on black "I will settle for **salamander sauté!**" and raised his fighting spirit so much that the hairs on the back of Kirche's neck stood and poor flame darted behind his master's chair shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Saito looked up to see both Louise and Kirche staring at him "Just kidding!" he smiled making the red-hair sigh in relief "But seriously, I do not appreciate any threatening actions that are directed at Louise."

"I-I'll keep that in mind!" stuttered Kirche.

"That is all I ask for." he responded before he heard a rattle and turned his head towards the source.

"Well what does Zero here have that I don't have? She has zero chest, zero appeal and zero patience!" Kirche moaned.

"Zerbst!" growled Louise.

Saito just chuckled "And you miss, have zero modesty, although I do admit that it could prove to be an asset concerning some people but not me. In my homeland, I had so many ladies of your appeal coming after me because of my status that I guess I sort of built up a strong resistance to these kinds of advances. Anyway like my master said, our relationship is best to be left out of your concerns but she could have been a bit more ladylike in expressing this…"

Louise didn't know whether to clobber him or praise him…

"You mentioned your homeland. Where are you from and do you have any family?" Kirche asked, her 'heat' dissipating in the face of genuine curiousness.

Saito then smirked "I am from a very, very faraway place miss and as for family I guess you could say that I did have one, well… sort of…"

"What do you mean sort of?" the seductress asked.

"Well until I was six years old I lived mostly with my mother, a woman with no discernable origins or accomplishments, but I cared for nothing of the sort. I was quite smart for my age or so I was told which meant I never made any friends and so she was my whole world."

"Was?"

"She died of illness a week after I turned six."

"Sorry… I hit a sore spot!" Kirche apologized.

"Oh don't worry about it! She died with a smile on her face and I have long made peace with that. It's just the circle of life, the nature of all things to be like this." Saito responded with a smile. "Well, after that I was adopted by my mother's closest friend and her family. I never really connected with them unfortunately, since most of my time was spent on studies. Sociology, literature, fine arts, mannerism, logics, logistics, philosophy, psychiatry, politics, martial arts, foreign languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, geology, astronomy, astrology, agriculture, mechanical and computational engineering, computer sciences and many others, if it was a field then by the time I was nine I was at least an expert if not master in all of them. Mother's loss had affected me more than anything… I used to lose so many nights worth of sleep so I could study more, just to find a cure for that accursed illness, and I eventually did. I saved many people from it but by now studying became my obsession. It nearly cost me my life many times as I simply fainted from exhaustion, nearly falling down a flight of stairs once.

Then at nine years old I met my birth father. He presented himself decent enough and seemed to be a high-ranking member of an Order in another land. I never trusted him though. Where was he when mother died? Where had he been all my life? I was weary of him, and it's a good thing that I did. The first night he brought me to his land he got drunk and tried to violate me…" Saito paused when he saw the girls shiver "… keyword: tried. His magic being useless by his alcohol induced slurping mouth and poor vision were the advantages that I needed to knock him out with a good kick to the solar plexus.

After that I ran, hoping to get as far away as I could from that _thing_. As I ran I bumped into the scariest thing that I ever saw in my nine years of life: a dark man-like silhouette. I nearly fainted on the spot but the shadow gently grabbed me and shook me out of my shock. It turns out he was one of the highest ranking members from that very same Order that my _father_ belonged to. I thought that he would take me back but he was too strong to fight and I eventually had to tell him my story.

He said nothing and just embraced me. It felt so comforting that I fell asleep. The next day I woke in a beautiful but simple room. I had no idea how I got here but I bolted to the door as fast as I could and when I opened it I saw something that shocked the life out of me: my father."

The girls gasped and Saito smirked…

"He was in chains with four guards boxing him in. His left eye was swollen, his right brow was cracked, both his lips were busted and his nose was broken… I think he tried to say something but I'm pretty sure he didn't have a single tooth left whole in his mouth.

I closed the door and awaited my fate and it finally came an hour later in the form of the same man who I met last night: Corvine, an A-rank instructor from the Order of the Knights of Truth. He took me in and raised me like a true father would have. He dressed me, fed me, taught me, trained me… and it was at the training academy where I met my brother in spirit: Teargoleth, the 'Star of Elysia'.

In a way he was a lot like you mistress: wild, proud and powerful with a knack of always getting into trouble and a personality to drag me down with him but still fun to be around even with his short temper, haha… that is, before he…."

"Please forgive me milord!" cried Siesta who was on the ground near a fallen push-cart, surrounded by different tea ware and baked sweets.

Her object of concern was none other than the playboy "Do you think that an apology will suffice maid? I expended ten minutes of my precious life waiting for my tea and you have the gull to trip and waste it?" he shouted making her cower more.

Saito saw this and sighed "Excuse me…" he said before heading towards the event.

"Sorry for interfering with your 'discussion' sir but it was obviously a mistake. There is no need for such disgraceful actions." Saito said while moving in between the blond and Siesta.

"Saito…" murmured the maid.

The playboy sneered "Aren't you the plebian that Louise the Zero summoned? Well it doesn't matter as this does not concern you!"

The warrior sighed "And yet here is a so called 'noble' picking on a defenseless girl. I think that is reason enough to be concerned."

The blond growled "You dare come here and question my actions peasant, and not only that, you insult me in front of my dear Montmorency?"

Saito then noticed the blond girl sitting at the same table as this pretentious sod "You know my dear sir, at first I mistook you for a playboy but now I see that you are a two-timer as well, that is if the first year girl from two nights before was not your sister of course."

"Guiche, what does he mean?" Montmorency asked, apparently quite irked.

Guiche started sweating "He is obviously not whole in the mind my dear, I have not even dreamt of something close to his words!"

Saito smirked at that "Oh really, then the girl behind you holding a basket with the soufflé she promised you two nights ago is nothing but a figment of my wild imagination right Casanova?"

Guiche froze and slowly turned around to meet a girl with a curious expression on her face.

"Lord Guiche, why did he call you Casanova?" she asked.

Before the blond boy could answer Saito beat him to it "Well young miss it is a name given to all two-timing playboys, and considering the sweet talking he was doing with you a night before and the now swooning with miss Montmorency, if I am not mistaken, I would say that he fits the description perfectly."

"Guiche how could you!" screamed the blond girl while the young one just started crying.

Saito felt sad for the younger one so he went over and put a hand on her shoulder "Miss you shouldn't waste your tears for losing that lowlife's empty words. If anything you are better off without him so stand up tall and show them your strength." he comforted her and she seemed to take his words to heart.

Guiche who until now was trying to placate things with Montmorency turned to the girl "Katie wait I…" but before he could speak further he was slapped so hard that he rotated on his heal only to be met with the blond girl's hand.

"You liar!" both girls shouted at the same time.

Guiche recovered soon enough although he was terribly embarrassed by the situation. Seeking for a way to vent his anger he turned to the only possibility he had.

"You!" Guiche shouted at Saito "It's your fault that the two maidens are now sad! You and that useless waste of space of a maid!"

Saito frowned deeply, no he was actually cringing so hard that you would be afraid that his teeth would snap.

Meanwhile Siesta who had just finished picking up the contents of the tray froze just behind the warrior.

"Actually my dear 'noble' the young ladies were furious, because of your unfaithfulness to be more specific, and yet you blame the consequences of your action on me. Fine I can live with that… But… do not presume to know somebody's worth just because you have a higher standing then them 'milord'. You have no idea how much the staff here works and slaves so that your pathetic existences can have the comfort they crave. In fact I heard that the shortcake they toiled to make is delicious…" he said while grabbing one of the few unspoiled plates off the tray "Try some!" and he splatted it on Guiche's face.

Guiche was fuming. How dare this plebian of a familiar not only insult him like this, but also cover his beautiful face with cake that's been on the ground. He had to pay.

"That's it trash!" he roared "I challenge you to a duel!"

Saito raised an eyebrow and smirked "Oh my, a duel? Interesting, I accept!"

"Then follow me to the Vestri Court!" Guiche turned and started walking followed closely by Saito.

Halfway there Louise came running towards them.

"Stop!" she shouted "What are you doing you stupid familiar? Do you want to die?" she then turned to the blond boy "And you Guiche, don't you know that duels are forbidden?"

Guiche put on a cocky smirk "Only dueling between nobles is forbidden. Nobody has forbidden duels between commoners and nobles."

Louise was at a momentary loss for words.

"Th-that's because nothing like this has ever happened before..."

"Louise, do you like this commoner?" the blond asked.

Louise's face burned an angry scarlet.

"No! Don't be ridiculous! It's just that I won't put up with having my familiar beaten up before my eyes!"

"I will be fine Louise!" smiled Saito.

"Baka!" she shouted "Fine get killed! What do I care for anyway?" she stormed off.

Vestri Court was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire elemental towers. Being located to the west, the Court didn't receive much sunshine, even in the middle of the day, but it was the perfect place for a duel.

Right now... the place was packed with people who had heard the rumors.

"Gentlemen! It's a duel!" Guiche lifted his artificial rose high, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Guiche is going to duel! His opponent is Louise's commoner!" shouted one boy from the audience.

Saito appeared as sturdy and unfazed as a statue

Waving his arms about, Guiche acknowledged the cheering. And then, as if finally noticing Saito's presence there, he turned to face him.

Saito and Guiche stood in the middle of the Court, the blond glaring intently at the warrior. Saito merely looked at him like he was an insect.

"First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!" Guiche remarked in a sing-song voice, as he twirled his rose.

"How could I run away from this? I haven't had a duel since I was ten." spoke Saito in an uncharacteristically giddy voice. "So what are the rules for this match and what weapons are there allowed?" he said touching the hilt of his sword.

Then he felt it. He felt his powers expanding exponentially so in surprise took his hand off the weapon and it instantly turned to normal.

'What the?' he thought and touched the handle again feeling the same rush flow through him this time as well. 'This didn't happen to anything else I touched, but then when I touch my sword I feel like I could blast this world to smithereens with a snap of my fingers. I wonder…'

"Did you understand the rules plebian?" Guiche interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry, something distracted me. Would you be so kind as to share them again with me?" Saito smiled.

"Oh very well…" scoffed Guiche "I said that anything goes and we fight until one of us surrenders or dies! Of course in the end that will be you!" smirked the blond.

"Is that a rule or a statement?" asked Saito a little irked with Guiche's cocky attitude.

"It's a statement that I will turn into a rule with my power!" the blond peacock puffed. "Right then, let us begin..." he said and waved his wand and a petal floated down as if dancing in the air... and became the armor-clad shape of a female warrior. Its height was about the same as a person's, but it appeared to be constructed from some hard metal. Under the pale sunlight, its skin... its armor gleamed.

Saito looked incredulously at the construct "What the? What in the worlds is that?!"

Guiche smirked „I am a mage, therefore I fight using magic. Surely you have no complaints?"

„Actually may I ask one question: What kind of construct is that tin-can-toy?" asked the warrior using all his strength not to laugh.

Guiche seethed „How dare you call my precious golem, the Valkyrie, a toy? Enough! Valkyrie attack!"

The construct obeyed its master's orders and attacked head on at speeds that were quite surprising considering its bulk.

Saito couldn't hold it in anymore and broke in a teary laughter "You call that a golem?" he continued laughing until the thing was about seven meters in front of him.

Then as fast as a lightning bolt a gigantic stony fist ten meters in diameter shot out from the ground behind Saito and flattened Guiche's Valkyrie into tinfoil.

Saito smirked as the ground rumbled slightly as the body the hand belonged to started rising out of the earth but surprisingly taking none of the ground with it, acting more like a summon then a construct, and blocking out the sun for the students who were retreating to a safer distance "Allow me to introduce you to a real golem…" and finally the gigantic construction reached its final height, the tallest academy tower barely reaching its chest "The sentinel of earth: 'GAIA's GUARDIAN'!"

The sentinel was a dark gray representation of a masked roman gladiator with a glistening surface made from the condensation of the strongest minerals; truly a fearsome sight to behold.

But the one who was shocked the most was Louise. Her familiar, the nut-job, had summoned a golem the size that would make square-class earth mages green with envy. Oh and did she feel its power… It was not just a slab of earth but something different altogether, something dangerous and strangely inviting. But even that paled when she felt something else; it lasted no more than a flash but it was all that was needed for the poor girl to comprehend the scale of it. It was Saito, her familiar's true strength and knowledge, transmitted through their connection via the runes on his hand… and it made her feel like an ant compared to a mountain and it was painfully obvious that he was holding back so much that it almost hurt her to watch. It was a bit too much for her to handle and so, she fainted, the last thought on her mind being the feeling of total powerlessness.

"Are you ready worm?" shouted Saito from atop of the golem's shoulder.

He was hoping that Guishe would at least last long enough for him to off some stress. Oh yes he was hoping that this playboy would at least…

"I give up!" shouted the coward.

… give up… WAIT WHAT?

"I surrender!" shouted the trembling Guiche who had fallen over when faced with the gargantuan golem.

Saito's jaw unhinged itself and, still stupefied, he snapped his fingers and the guardian retreated back into the earth.

He was now face to face with the casting Casanova, well… he was standing and Guiche was on the grown slowly backing away.

"Are you serious?! Come on man, I even reduced the size of my guardian to a twentieth of its maximum so even a C-class could provide some challenge." shouted a surprised Saito.

"M-my Valkyrie could not possibly hope to match your golem so I admit defeat!"

Saito then frowned and rubbed his temples "You mean to say that that walking scrap-pile was your strongest spell? And for the love of mercy, stop backing away! I will not lower myself as to attack a defeated opponent."

"Yes'sir!" answered Guiche almost mechanically.

"Great Mikael, I nearly clobbered a D-class of the lowest rank. Good thing nobody I know of is here to witness this, I would have the laughing stock of the Order… getting so wound up over a battle with this pathetic whelp…" whispered Saito to himself.

He then smirked and walked over to Guiche "Well since I won I will claim my rights as victor." He then turned to the stunned crowd and shouted "Siesta, are you here?"

Squirming out of the crowd the little maid slowly made her way to his side "Yes Saito?" she answered with a smile.

Saito then turned to Guiche who was standing in front of the girl. "Kneel!" he ordered.

"What?" asked Guiche but was then grabbed by the back of his collar and kicked behind his knees.

The young warrior then spoke with authority "You will apologize to this young maid for all the things you ever said to and about her and her coworkers and will swear on your honor that you will never partake in such an action again!"

Guiche looked conflicted for a bit, more so then he was scared but Saito's patience was reaching its limits until a steel blade appeared right between his legs stopping just underneath his 'family jewels' "Do it! Or by Lucifel, I will take away all that makes you a male!"

And Saito barely managed to end his words that the young mage was practically begging for forgiveness and swearing on his family's graves that he will never do it again…


	3. Chapter 3 - A Heated Knightmare

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies

There's a picture on my profile for the armor inspiration

Now for the Draconic language (You will see later) I used the online translator at **draconic . twilightrealm **(remember to erase the spaces)

If you don't see the link I will also post it on my profile.

In this chapter (although short) Saito shows a more vengeful side. I will tell you now he is not cruel but he is resolute (like a father)

I know the chapter is kind of short but I wanted to show you that my Saito is not just a smiling fool with too much power.

################## **STORY** ##############################

Louise groggily opened her eyes to be greeted by the gentle light of a candle. She looked around and noticed she was in her room and that it was night. Groaning a bit she moved to sit up and was met by a voice she recognized immediately as her familiar.

"Awake at last little master?"

She turned her head towards the source and found Saito sitting on a chair near her bed.

"Saito…" she spoke gently making her familiar chuckle "What's so funny?" she asked curiously.

Saito smiled at her "Well, I believe that it's the first time you referred to me using my name." he answered making her blush.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"Well this in the second night so you were out for a day and a half I suppose. Speaking of that, why did you collapse like that? I did a diagnostics spell and found absolutely nothing wrong with your health, albeit a slight malnutrition caused by the improper food you eat…"

Louise felt a little irked by his comments but it was all washed away when she reminisced the moment when she fainted… and the absolute insignificance she felt when compared to her familiar.

"Saito… you're strong…" she mumbled making him smile.

"Why thank you mistress! It means a great deal to me that you consider…"

"No! That's not what I meant!" she interrupted him quite loudly but then slumped back, her eyes falling to her hands as she gripped the sheets "When you and Guiche fought we somehow connected…"

"The runes…" whispered Saito more to himself but she still heard it.

"I don't know how…" she acknowledged "…but when we did I felt your power… no, your entire being: knowledge, power, skills… I just 'felt' their limits and then felt so powerless, so absolutely useless that I simply wished so hard that I would just disappear from this world. Saito… just how strong are you?"

Saito until that time was looking at her with a slight shocked expression but seeing her current state made him think of a way to diffuse the situation so, adorning his kindest and loving smile, he answered simply: "I told you little master that I did not lie one bit since I came here. I am a Dragon-class warrior and I made it clear to you and the headmaster what that implies and you still didn't believe me…"

Louise grasped the sheets tighter "I do now…"

Saito nodded "Well that's good… I am a little concerned with you fainting like that but I guess that was an overwhelming experience, one that you will just have to accept as it is…"

"I guess so…" she mumbled.

"Indeed, especially now that I am considering to bring you to Dragon-class as well." he let it fly into the wind.

Louise shifted her vision so fast one would think that she would break something in her frail body "W-w-what do you mean?"

Saito just got off his chair and took a seat on the edge of her bed leaning in with a smile "I have come to a remarkable conclusion some time ago and have been thinking of the best way to present you this but I guess this is as best as it will come. Listen Louise, you remember my talk about the Great Twin Dragons?" he asked and she nodded "Do you remember that they each possessed a special, primordial power?" she nodded again "Do you remember that Lucifel's power was lost?" another nod "Well doesn't that tell you anything?" he asked and this time she negated it making him sigh and raise a finger close to her nose."

"Louise… Void… is… the… Light. of. Destruction." he said tapping her nose with each word.

"Y-y-you d-don't m-mean…?" she stuttered, the full implications hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"Indeed I do! Ironic isn't it? Your nick-name that is: 'Zero'. While it may have been a joke it fits the situation better than anything else. The ability to reduce everything to 'zero'… a frightful ability. You Louise will be my apprentice and will learn true, primordial magic and many other things from me and by the stars I will turn you into a Dragon-class warrior with all the power and responsibility that comes with it.

"You mean I could be as strong as you?" she asked, hope filling her eyes.

"Maybe, maybe not… it all depends on you and your own capabilities. Who knows, one day you may even surpass me completely if you have the will to keep pushing forward." he smiled and gently got off the bed leaving a stupefied Louise to contemplate her position.

As he gently closed the door he was met with the sight of Kirche's familiar cautiously staring at him.

"Well hello there little friend, what are you doing here at this hour?" he asked kindly.

Flame on the other hand took a nervous half-step back while his eyes shone with determination making Saito sigh and kneel down to its level.

"Come here Flame." he spoke gently while patting the ground in front of him.

The lizard slowly made its way to that position and Saito began to gently scratch it behind its ear scales earning a smile and a satisfied croak.

"I didn't really mean what I said to you before… it's just that, how would you feel if I growled at your master?" the teen asked and received a ferocious growl as an answer "Exactly, now what were you doing here?"

He received his answer when Flame gently bit his wrist and began tugging on it.

"You want me to follow? Well lead the way!" Saito answered smiling.

The young warrior was lead to a third floor room door that the flaming familiar opened without hesitation and looked to the boy as if asking to follow.

Inside he found a room which was similar to Louise's but felt less homey and more mysterious, coupled with the fact that it was very dimly lit. Standing in the middle of the room was a scantily dressed Kirche. Saito sighed, instantly recognizing the situation, especially after seeing the girl's expression.

"Evening miss Kirche, I take it this is not a social call that your familiar has laid upon me?" he asked, his tone showing that he was a little irked. By the Brothers, why did he always receive the same reaction in every realm?

"Why so stiff big boy?" Kirche purred "I merely want to spend a cozy night with you…" she let it stretch in a seductive way.

"I understand, then the gentleman who is slowly floating up to the window level is to join us?" the boy asked and Kirche raised an eyebrow before a shout was head proclaiming love and such making the girl blast him with a small serpent made of fire.

"Don't mind him, he is a friend…" she spoke nervously.

"I see, a friend..." Saito murmured.

Kirche then began going through multiple seductive poses "I know that it is dirty but my runic name is Ardent for my soul and heart burn like torches with passion."

„I can say, that is quite the spicy name, so dissimilar to my own I might add." he spoke trying to change the conversation.

„Oh?" She asked „How so?"

„My name is Saito Hiraga, but my title is Etherion, Saito ‚Etherion' Hiraga, master of the Ether element."

Now Kirche's mage curiosity took over „Ether? I have never heard of such an element."

„And I'm not surprised you haven't. You see Ether is the very first element. It is the Power of Creation and unlike most other elements it is not born with the mage but it choses it's wielder. One can be born with a certain element from the main four but if Ether chooses you then it completely overwrites your capabilities and makes you it's one and only master. The only other element to do so is the last element, the polar opposite of Ether. It is the Light of Destruction, commonly known as Void."

Kirche was beginning to feel hot under the collar „Wooow..." she purred „No wonder you were so cool when you fought Guiche, you are sooo strong!"

Saito chuckled „Why thank you miss but it is not like I haven't worked for it. Truly I have the bigger blade but if one doesn't train to use it then it will just rust away uselessly."

The young red-hair moaned „I would certainly like to confirm the size of your ‚blade' honey..."

Saito chocked „Excuse me?"

„Less talk honey, I am the Ardent, and my soul burns for your love. Understand? I love you honey!" she slowly stalked to his side seductively and started rubbing his shoulders.

Saito sighed and gently pushed her away "Please stop this miss, it is disgraceful!" he ordered.

She on the other hand pouted "But honey, love is not disgraceful…"

He nodded but still kept a serious expression "You are right, love is not disgraceful but… what you feel is not love."

"Oh really? The Zerbst have flaming hearts that burn with passion and now that passion is for you."

„No, it is neither passion nor love. I see it in your eyes miss. As much as you flaunt it around, you hate your looks. You hate how males all around look at you as a piece of meat, always wanting you like a prize, like a fine sculpture that they should possess. And you want to make them pay for that and you become what you hate, collecting boys all around only to leave them when they are head over heels for you just so you can prove to yourself that you are above them... only that it hurts even more when you see the next one drooling and ogling you like you were his naked toy." Saito explained seeing Kirche's expression drop with every word until she was on the verge of tears. "And now you saw something that has never been heard of: a commoner male practicing magic so great that it makes the strongest noble seem insignificant and you thought that he would be your ultimate prize, especially considering that he is the familiar of the 'Zero', in your view, the girl who although holds no candle to you, still can challenge you and come out with her head held high up. If anything I pity you miss Zerbst. You have lost yourself in this childish game."

Saito then noticed the sobs that permeated the air and looked to find Kirche struggling with her tears. Guilt then washed over him for if one was to make a list of what he hated, you would find making innocent girls cry somewhere close beneath those who harm the innocent.

Seeing no other choice he gently approached her and wrapped her arms around the poor female which lost all reason and began to cry uncontrollably in his chest while he comforted her and whispered soothing words.

Minutes passed and she seemed to make a recovery as she lifted her teary face to meet his eyes.

"T-Thank you S-Saito… I.."

A loud bang interrupted her…

They both turned to the source of the noise to find a positively fuming Louise…

"Y-y-y-y-y-you p-perverted familiar! T-this is where you went? I was beginning to worry about you and searched for you only to find you in the hands of this milk cow! You dooog!" she screamed and raised her wand, her anger completely erasing all reason and contemplation of just who she was pointing it towards.

The tip began to glow with power and a few static-electricity-like bolts of energy erupted from her wand. Chanting a fireball spell in her mind she focused all the mana that she could and released it.

The air in front of the wand shone with energy and then… nothing. A slight flash of light and then it all vanished, nothing to even suggest the usage of a spell, no smoldering destruction, not even a chip of paint off the wall.

At first Louise was stunned. She knew her magic was terrible but it was at least good at causing destruction. She then looked at her familiar and all blood drained from her face.

His expression was angry, no… it was murderous, the air shifting and stirring like heat was raging inside him heating the atmosphere and causing it to shift and bend, Kirche lying unconsciously over her familiar who shared a similar fate.

Saito then made a move towards her causing her to take three backwards. Every one of his steps gave her the illusion of tremors as his spiritual presence completely erased her sense of self and panic gripped her heart with an iron glove. This continued until she backed into a wall with him still marching slowly towards her, his face still locked in rage.

The warrior was soon no more than an arm's length in front of her as she trembled in fright. This was her familiar, the one who always smiled and spoke gently to her… the one who now seemed to be the Grim Reaper, the one who was to be her executioner. He slowly raised his right arm and a strange liquid trickled down her legs making a small puddle between her feet. The am sailed passed her and stopped in his hair.

He straightened out his hair with a sigh and then moved away towards their shared accommodation leaving Louise to regain control of her own mind which she soon did and rushed to the closest common restroom in tears.

After freshening up and strengthening her resolve she made her way back to her room but hesitated in front of the door. A deep intake of breath later and she finally turned the knob and entered to find Saito sitting on the window still not even sparing her a gaze.

"Saito…" she murmured but got no reaction from him. "Saito, what's wrong?" and again she received no answer.

Slowly she made her way to his side and asked again "Saito, please… talk to me…" she begged him but he still ignored her.

"Saito, please don't do this! Talk to me, please!" she nudged his shoulder.

This time he responded but not with words by using his backhand to push her onto the bed. It was not violent per say, as between friends this act could be taken as playful but the situation was far from it.

"You stupid brat…" he finally answered and moved to Louise's position, his visage as cold as a glacier "What did you think you were doing?"

"I-I didn't think that…"

"That's right! You didn't think at all you stupid girl! What do you think would have happened if I had not canceled out that spell?" he growled and she cowered deeper in her pillows. "Let me ask you, did you consider that there was somebody else into the room? Did it ever cross your mind how dangerous the Light of Destruction is and how it answers to your emotions like a plant does to water? Did you ever think of the consequences if you would have lost control? How many students are in this academy right now? How many innocent lives would you have taken if that spell had gone wrong? Have you ever envisioned the bigger picture?" he asked in a slightly higher tone.

Louise's eyes widened as she began to understand the scale of the danger if things had gone wrong.

"No you do not! Let me explain it to you. How many princes and princesses are here? How many dukes, counts, barons and knights are here? What would have happened if they perished by your hand? Would their countries not ask for retribution?" he let the question float for a bit as Louise's expression turned grim with fright.

"That's right Louise! War! War would have happened and then how many lives would have been taken? War makes no distinction between bluebloods and commoners, innocent or guilty… war takes them all. Your carelessness nearly put them all in danger. I don't care what your reason was for there was nothing there to warrant such a mindless act. I have never been so disappointed in someone in my life!"

With that Saito left the girl to think of the gruesome truth as he made his way to her drawers. Pulling out the lowest one he found what he was looking for: Louise's spare wands. "You have proven yourself unworthy of the gift of magic and therefor I will be taking these. I have already spoken to the Headmaster and he granted me tutelage over your magical and non-magical studies with the condition that you will be taking the exams and partaking in two days of regular class, which I could only agree so that you do not lose the bonds formed with your classmates. Tomorrow we begin your training and if you prove yourself worthy enough I shall return the wands. Good night mistress, rest well!"

And with that he exited the room leaving a very sad but understanding Louise to contemplate the full consequences…


	4. Chapter 4 - Chasing through the Knight

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies

There's a picture on my profile for the armor inspiration

Now for the Draconic language (You will see later) I used the online translator at **draconic . twilightrealm **(remember to erase the spaces)

If you don't see the link I will also post it on my profile.

A/N: First of all I like to say that I thank you all for taking the time to read and **especially** comment on this story. Comments and reviews are like the author's redbull. It gives us energy to write more, faster. Even a simple ‚Great story!' or ‚Could've been better!' is helpful for I want to know your opinions, no matter how awful your imagination is.

Now down to business. I noticed that a small number of reviewers don't like the new Saito because he is so out of character and the now, slightly more mature Louise.

I will not tell you to stop reading this fic but will simply quote from the author who inspired me to create my first ever fic: DarkFayt.

„_Before you begin to read my fic I just wanted to say that if you try to bring religious beliefs, the laws of physics, or even if you are tied to cannon facts and timelines then you will have a very limited story selection on this site. When you open up a fan-fiction or book in general you need to leave your concepts at the door and let yourself be carried away by the views of the writer. Seeing into the imagination and personal world of another is the reason for stories to exist. That is how you truly enjoy a story. Let yourself be absorbed by the words and beliefs of another. Thank you all and I hope you will remember my words while reading this story and any other..."_

Or in common words: Didn't you people had enough of the original main characters? Do you want to see Saito whipped around like a common dog while he always gets hurt or even killed for Louise? Do you still want to see the stereotypical weak character at start who somehow becomes strong, only to become weak again and so on.

*Spoiler*

Take Saito (original) for example. Early on he reached a point where he could stall an army of 70000 strong with mages, orcs and so on. Then, if any of you read the translated novel of Zero no Tsukaima:Volume11 he is easily beaten by Louise's mom. Beaten by one freakin' mage.

*End Spoiler*

My main characters are strong from the get-go so I focus more on their morality and their relationships in my fics. True, it lacks the ‚Will he be defeated?' element of surprise but his or hers choices more than make up for it, as well as the 'what will that crazy author do with him next? What kind of spells/styles/equipment/etc. will he receive?

That my friend is my view on characters because quite simply I am tired of a main character always 'receiving an awesome power only to be outclassed by an even stronger enemy' cliché (cough * Naruto * cough).

The rambling is over so enjoy ch 4 of 'HS:TKOTSL'

################## **STORY** ##############################

It was early morning when Louise awoke. Truthfully she was a very heavy sleeper but last night's events affected her so much that she couldn't rest peacefully, and what was even worse was that Saito was right.

When Louise saw her familiar in the arms of her rival, her chest became heavy and her mind clouded. All those moments when she was seen as the 'Zero', all those failures, all that pain she felt from the ones who should have been close to her heart came back to her mind… all at once.

Her familiar, her Saito who, since the moment they met, treated her with kindness, smiles and never once belittled her, who protected her when the other training mages were ridiculing her in class, the one who helped her achieve her first… or make that second magical success; The same Saito was now angry, no… he was disappointed in her…

It hurt her so much more, since for a familiar to be so utterly disappointed in his master it meant serious business. And what was worse was that he believed in her and fed her words that her soul so desperately needed. He believed in her abilities, he praised her and told her just how special she was… but now he wasn't even there to greet her.

However what made it truly unbearable was that he was absolutely right.

Saito told her wondrous tales about the birth of the world, of other worlds, of the dawn of magic, of creatures that looked like dragons but were indefinably more powerful and infinitely wiser… and she took him for a mad man. He laughed in his face and called him crazy… until he fought, no… utterly shattered Guiche and they connected.

It was for the briefest of moments when she, for a lack of better terms, took a sneak peek at his very being, the one hidden behind the kindness. It wasn't a transfer of knowledge or anything of the sort but it was more like the feeling of staring in the eyes of a massive beast, a beast so massive that it could block the sun with its will alone and she instinctively recognized it as his power, his soul and knowledge… his very core.

So when he told her that she shared a similar power, Louise for once felt something that, for her, was as rare as a crown jewel: confidence. To others it may seem like she is indomitable but the truth was that it was only a front she had to create for herself when she lived with her family who were ruthless in her education.

And she abused it…

The Magic Academy of Tristain was the place with more nobles per area of land than any other place in all of her knowledge of the continent. Gallia, Tristania, Germania, Romalia, Albion and a hoard of other nations, they all sent their noble inheritors to the academy to train in magic.

When Louise saw Saito holding Kirche, her pain returned, amplified by the fear of losing her only remaining source of light in her dark world. That fear made her lose all reason and so anger filled her mind. No! She won't lose him to her, even if he has to be in bandages for the rest of his life!

So she completely forgot his words, forgot how the difference between the Primordial Powers and the main elements was like the difference between a small puddle and the ocean, and about the danger they brought… and especially forgot about just who she was pointing her magic at.

When the spell failed, her surprise wiped away her rage and a small part of her was relieved that it didn't happen. But then she saw her familiar boiling with anger.

That anger triggered something in Saito that Louise never felt before. His presence washed over her like a tidal wave and it felt like being in the middle of the most violent storm in history. Even her mother, the famous Karin the Heavy Wind, former leader of the kingdom's Manticore Knights couldn't even dream of generating such presence simply by existing, it being enough to take away her voice and even dry her tears so she couldn't even cry out in fear.

She didn't remember anything else until she found herself waist-naked inside the western bathroom frantically drying her wet legs. Louise didn't understand why her feet were in the water bucket in the first place but she knew it had something to do with her familiar.

When Louise reached her room, she felt Saito through their link and also felt his… conflict. It was a feeling like thousands of fireballs were exploding inside her chests. She reached for the knob, determined to find out what was wrong, her mind erasing most of her memories of the terrible feeling of being squashed as a person in his proximity. When she touched the metal device she immediately pulled her hand back. For some reason, she feared that beyond this simple oak door was a disaster waiting to happen… like a raging flame was waiting to pounce on her the moment she opened it.

Gathering the remnants of her resolve she opened the door and gently peeked inside. There he was. Sitting on the window still was her protector, her hope, her familiar…

It hurt Louise since, instead of the smiling boy she had gotten so used to, was the rough appearance of a wise… but angry old man who had seen horrors that she couldn't even fathom and was now acting like she was but a simple child who broke her father's rule.

She cried out to him but he simply ignored her but she felt him stir, the explosions in her chest growing wilder with each word until he pushed her onto the bed. Louise felt no pain from this and instinctively knew that it took all his willpower to keep his arm from lashing out violently. A thought flashed in her mind and it was that… in the end… he was still the same gentle Saito.

But that thought immediately disappeared when he chastised her for her reckless mistake. Every one of his words hurt more than any of her eldest sister's punishments because he didn't accuse her per say but with every sentence Saito made her realize just how close she was to not only dragging the Valliere name through the mud but could've pointlessly caused a war resulting in hundreds upon thousands of meaningless deaths.

[***]

The night had been rough as she cried herself to sleep and awoke early since the nightmares didn't give her a moment of rest.

As she made her way down the corridor leading to the mess hall she ran into an unexpected person.

"Ah, miss Valliere!" Siesta greeted kindly.

"You're that maid, Siesta." Louise responded a little disheartened.

Siesta sensed something amiss but brushed it aside "Miss Valliere, have you seen mister Saito? I haven't seen him since he watched over you while you were unconscious." she asked curiously.

Louise's eyes widened "He watched over me?"

The maid smiled "Yes, he kept watch over you for the whole time you were out, refusing to move from your side even when his stomach growled so much that people passing in front of your room thought that you were raising an angry dragon." she giggled.

The little mage's heart fell so much that she was but one step away from crying her sadness out "Saito…" she murmured.

"Is something wrong miss Valliere?"

Louise didn't answer and moved away at a rapid pace, her legs taking her somewhere hidden from her mind. At one point she began to run, tears threatening to emerge again as she continuously berated herself mentally.

'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid…" she kept chanting as she took cover in the shade of a tree.

At one point it became unbearable and she finally started sobbing quietly. She refused to let anybody know about this and so, Louise tried her best to keep her voice in check as she buried her face in her arms that were positioned on the tree bark.

And cry she did until a pair of gentle arms wrapped themselves around her from behind. Acting on instinct she lashed around only to hit Saito's cheek with her backhand. He was now dressed in a pair of formal black pants and a dark blue leather tunic with paddings and a silver Cravat. His feet were covered by dark brown leather riding boots and on his shoulders rested a long, black coat with three tails. On the back of the coat was an engraving of a silver western dragon. His long hair was now in a neat ponytail.

Seeing him caused her to try and back away from him but only made him deepen the embrace. She shivered, the sudden act causing her mind to lock in shock. Still he didn't let go, his face full of emotional pain as he buried her face in his chest and resting his chin on her head.

"It's okay Louise, shhh…" he said soothingly as he gently caressed her back.

Those words, those simple little words caused her emotional dam to crack and soon her face scrunched, no longer being able to hold back her sadness. Not wasting a second she dug deeper in his chest and cried her heart out with the familiar gently holding her while whispering 'It's alright Louise! Just let it all out…"

"Saito… Saito… Saito…" she murmured through her sobs and soon she was finally able to calm down and he let go.

She sniffed a bit whilst drying her eyes of any remnant tears.

"Saito, I…" she began but he lifted a hand signaling her to stop.

"Louise, I'm sorry!" he bowed his head and his loose bangs covered his face "Last night… I shouldn't have lashed out like that. It was not your fault but mine…"

"Saito…"

"Louise, I recognize that I have been a hypocrite. I kept emphasizing maturity and responsibility and yet I threw that awful tantrum that I should have known better to avoid. I am deeply sorry you had to see that Louise and I'll understand if you never forgive me…" he said, his hair still covering his face.

The little mage shook her head "No Saito, you were right. What you said was so right that every one of your words made me realize just how close I came to endangering the country. Mother was right… I am a failure."

"No Louise, you are not a failure! You never were and never will be! Let those fools believe what they want for they know not of the full picture and most likely never will. If there is a failure it is mine alone for since that morning I was your appointed teacher and I failed to get you to understand. It was my mistake and you had to pay for it."

Louise grabbed his head and lifted it so that his eyes were now locked with hers… and his showed sorrow and regret beyond his years would have normally allowed.

"You dummy! The failures of the familiar are the failures of the mage… but thank you for listening to me and telling me that I am not a failure. You are the only one who has ever done that besides my sister."

Those simple words made Saito smile but his eyes were still so full of pain.

"Saito… what did you mean when you said that I did not understand the bigger picture. Is it more than the war I… nearly caused?" she asked curiously. His answer took her by surprise.

He nodded "Louise, let me tell you a story. Remember when we were in the courtyard during that day… day of the Void if I'm not mistaken." he asked and she nodded "I was about to tell you about my brother in all but blood, Teargoleth. He is a Suan Louise, a race of incredibly beautiful humans with two pairs of golden wings. They are as close to angles as humanly possible, as weird as that might sound. They are battlemasters of a different category than anyone, with blade forms as varied as there are colors and styles as graceful as dances and as deadly as lightning, which they used to keep the land of Elysia, their home continent, safe. And there was Teargoleth, the 'Star of Elysia'… His talent alone was legendary. In fact he was believed to be the next inheritor of the Power of Creation. Teargoleth was the one who taught me true swordsmanship and I taught him about my then limited knowledge about Vs'shtak and through sheer determination he always managed to stay two steps ahead of me in the art of the blade. We were like the Sun and the Moon… I was blessed with unparalleled understanding of Vs'shtak and he was the genius future swordsmaster… and he saw this as some sort of threat. I later understood why…

Apparently Vs'shtak is the most coveted ability in the land of Anhew since controlling it means controlling existence itself.

The pressure from those expecting greatness from him, combined with our teacher's hellish training pushed him to the edge… and he fell from it. Thinking that he could never meet their expectations he became jealous of me. I don't know why though…. You have to understand Louise, I never saw the competition that was slowly creeping its way between us. I always saw Teargoleth as my brother and was proud of him when he achieved something ahead of me but he thought of me of as much of a rival as he did a brother. In the end, because of a combination of things, he did the most foolish thing one can do… He tried to use Vs'shtak to understand Vs'shtak. It is an unfathomable concept in itself. Vs'shtak is Draconic, the Language of the Truth. To truly understand it, you must contemplate its full existence. Why is it based on misconception and why is lying impossible. As a swordsman, he didn't, no… he couldn't understand these concepts. Swordsmen are by nature straightforward beings and the greater the talent one has with the blade, the more difficult Vs'shtak, which is a fluid concept, is. In fact most blademasters never get to use more than a few sentences in their entire life and those are usually to complement their sword art.

In the end Teargoleth used a forbidden spell to try and force the understanding of Vs'shtak and became a Dragon-Suan hybrid. Normally that would have given him unparalleled power but he was not ready for it. He didn't understand the Language from the beginning and he fused with a being that was born with the understanding of it. Their souls wrestled for dominance ending up destroying one another. His personality was erased, his soul's spark extinguished. In the end the mighty 'Star of Elysia' became Teargoleth, the Broken."

"But what does that have to do with…?" asked Louise.

"Teargoleth was my brother Louise. We spent just as much time training together as we spent getting into trouble. I remember every nook and cranny of the Oracle Palace, the place where the Knights of Truth taught aspirants in the arts, simply because we had to clean it whenever a prank went wrong." he answered with a sad smile "The place where the spell was located, the Word Vault was warded by powerful glyphs and runes so it was nearly impossible for someone without intricate understanding of the complex magical circuitry. And 'luckily' I was the greatest student in the magical arts there. I was the greatest fool…

Teargoleth convinced me to break into the archive under the guise of trying to expand his knowledge in preparation for an examination. He entered the nearly impenetrable Vault and, before I could join him, he wordlocked the gate, which means sealing an object under a verbal password, and used the Dragon's Dream spell to give himself the Wisdom of the Dragon…"

By now Saito was almost shaking at the memory making Louise worry.

"I begged him Louise! I begged him not to use it but he ignored me and then, for a moment, he became what he wanted…" Saito said with a smirk that quickly turned into a frown. "But it didn't last. He started screaming and convulsing in pain and I couldn't do anything to help him. I watched the life drain from his eyes, his final words saying his farewell to me... and I lost it. I don't remember anything from that but, a year later, Corvine, our master trainer who was there as well told me how I blasted a hole into the indestructible wall and made my way to his side.

When I was holding Teargoleth, pain filled me and I accused master of being the cause of this. He had been like a father to us and pushed us harder than anyone, not complimenting us for any success in fear that it might make us arrogant. I saw through this from the beginning but apparently my brother did not and, considering himself a failure in front of master's eyes, it led him to commit the act. That is also when, for the first time I manifested the Power of Creation.

Fueled by my rage the power ripped apart the Oracle Palace and nearly killed Corvine who was saved by his incredible good fortune." Saito confessed through the shakes that covered his body.

"I was lucky that there were no other students or teachers that day in the Palace. They were all gone on a study trip whilst we were forbidden from joining following a successful attempt at causing trouble. Teargoleth lived but became nothing more than an empty shell, devoid of all purpose and emotion. I never saw him smile or frown after that day. He now stares into a wall at the Order's sanatorium, a place where the mentally broken live their lives, if that could be called a 'life', away from society."

"But…" Louise began but Saito beat her to it.

"Louise, what would have happened if there was no trip that day? How many innocent lives would I have taken if they were all there that day? I could have killed my master that day because I lost control of my emotions. Willpower is related to feelings Louise, it is strengthened by rage but it eats your mind and soul. And like I said, Ether is by nature a calm power whilst Void is wild raw energy.

Void responds to emotions better than any other element, growing in power with each moment when your spirit is not stable. When you channeled that spell, I felt your emotions, and they were dangerously chaotic… In that moment I saw myself in your place, the moment my recklessness destroyed my brother and I felt angry. I wanted to beat some sense into the idiotic child that I was, so much so that I lost all connection to the outside world. At that moment all that I saw in your place was Teargoleth's broken expression and I lost my reason for a moment until I noticed your terrified face. I managed to get some control back so I left to understand my actions.

So when you came back to the room I knew that I should have apologized but I didn't know where to start. That is until you started asking me for clarification and I lost it again. So many lives were in the balance, yours included and yet you acted like a child who took the father's sword thinking it was a toy… like there was never any danger present.

I lashed out at you, barely restraining myself and all the time I was chastising you I was actually screaming at myself. I only saw my child self before I had lost my brother, my idol… my 'star'. In a sense I accused you of something that was not of your wrongdoing and for that I will say again that I am sorry.

Louise, I know you have not lived any of those experiences and you do not know how happy that makes me, for it is not an easy burden on the spirit. But please, do not repeat my foolish mistakes! I beg you Louise!" asked Saito with moist eyes "For it will slowly destroy you from the inside… Because for all the power we possess, inside… we are still humans living under the sun."

"Saito…" mumbled Louise.

"Promise me Louise! Promise me that you will be careful from now on! Promise me that you will not abuse the things that I will teach you!"

"I-I promise!" she nodded in understanding making him smile.

That smile quickly turned into a cocky grin.

"Well now that the sob stories are done with, what do you say about going for a mid-morning snack?" asked Saito without a care in the world making Louise blink in surprise.

"Mou! How can you be so carefree after being so serious like that?" she shouted while flailing her arms like a headless chicken.

He flashed his smirk again "Well that's thanks to Patosha! She is… a tale for another time."

His answer caused the little mage to faceplant "Baka!"

"But where to have our snack? I certainly do not want to add to the staff's ever increasing chores so this is a problem." contemplated Saito in a thinker pose.

Louise's mind then lit up "It's the day we're allowed to leave the campus walls so how about we go into town?"

Saito smiled "That is an excellent idea Louise! It's a date then!"

"D-d-d-d-date?!" blushed the little mage "D-d-don't get any b-bright ideas!" she chastised him.

This caused him to smirk "Why not Louise? We are partners for life, bound together by a symbol of faith and devotion. If someone else were to here of this they would think that we are married."

"M-m-married?! No! No! No way!" she shouted in defense as her cheeks reddened. She tried to take out her wand to threaten him into stopping his teasing words but remembered that he took all her magical sticks. This made her feel similarly to being naked and it showed on her face.

"What's wrong Louise?" Saito's expression turned into one full of concern.

"It's nothing!" she mumbled knowing full well that he was right in taking them though a noble without it's magical focus is like a newborn orphan.

"Your eyes say that it's more than nothing." he pushed.

Louise's shoulders dropped "It's just that I… well I guess that I miss my wand. It's the first time that I left my room without it."

Saito nodded "I see… Well I am sorry Louise but I can't return those wands yet." he said sternly.

She nodded in understanding.

He then flashed a kind smile "I can however offer an alternative."

These words captured Louise's full attention.

Saito clapped his hands and slowly pulled them apart. In the space between his palms a pure white cylindrical object formed as the distance between his arms increased.

Finally the object that he created looked like a staff with half of a flower bud shaped basket on its crown**. **(Gandalf the White's Staff). Reaching with his left hand into his pocket he fished out a small silvery, egg-like gem that seemed to flow out like mercury while keeping its outer shell intact and put it inside the basket which proceeded to close up completing the bud like end.

He twirled it around a bit as if judging its balance and weight. Finally being satisfied with it he settled on holding it using both hands in a horizontal position. He then handed it to Louise.

As soon as the little mage touched the staff she felt like it was a part of her. Like it was an arm she never knew she had.

"This Louise is your new staff. Like my battle armor, it is made of mithril, an elven alloy that is as light as it is durable. In fact nothing short of enchanted weapons and powerful A-class spells could even scratch it. But that is not its most defining characteristic…That gem is unique in all of creation. It is called Mikael's Tear and has quite the history behind it.

When Mikael fought his brother to save the world he did it in tears. This gem was his very last tear that fell down to Anhew and formed what you now hold. It is the most powerful magical focus in existence." Saito smiled.

Louise was awestruck by the beautiful and powerful staff so much so that she could only ask "Really?"

Saito nodded "Think Louise! This gem is not a result of their powers or of some natural process but it is actually part of the Great Dragon's body. It was part of the body that was born with the Primordial Power unlike us who inherited it. The potential of that staff that you hold in your hands is unfathomable."

"But… I thought… you said… that I'm not worthy of magic." she spoke with mild difficulty in finding the right words.

Saito sighed and crossed his arms "Louise, I said a lot of things last night, some of which I regret deeply, but I never said that I wouldn't allow you to do magic. I simply said that I will be taking those archaic focus sticks you call wands and will be returning them to you when you learn to control your magic. They are improper for you to use as they most likely could not handle the strain of higher class spells at the level you are currently at. This staff however will be more than adequate for all of your castings. After all how could I teach you magic without a focus? True, there is body magic where you use a body part, usually your hands as a wand and after that is mental magic where you create the spell inside your mind and then channel it outwards but those are far above your current ability. Or are you unhappy with the design?"

Louise bristled like a cat and hugged the magical device whilst violently shaking her head making Saito chuckle at the cute display.

"Well anyway, shall we get going?" he asked and made his way towards the gate.

"Wait! The stables are the other way." she shouted after him.

Saito smiled and answered "We do not require horses."

"But… the town is an hour on horseback. Are we going to walk there?" she asked feeling a little irked.

"We are not going to walk either. It is a surprise." he made a shushing sign with his finger.

Five minutes later they made some distance from the gate.

"Alright, this should be far enough to avoid any commotion. God knows what I had to do to get rid of them after they saw me create that golem." he chuckled.

Louise was silently awaiting the surprise although her patience was wearing thin.

Saito took a deep breath "_Origato sia ivah jikmada boja tiselaiw vur soves wux ekess sia symba,_OSIRIS!"

His _voices_ echoed through the clouds and for a few moments nothing happened although Louise now knew better than to underestimate the power of those words. Her patience was rewarded when a series of thunder strikes were heard even though the skies were clear. It started out in the distance and slowly made its way towards them like a freight train, getting louder and louder until she could see some vague, pinkish mist-like '_things'_ that were giving off lightning, appearing and disappearing in sync with the thunders in the sky. They were growing in size as well, and finally, when the series reached just overhead of them, a massive dark green feathered dragon appeared out of the mist, roaring wildly as it started circling above them, frightening the poor girl who gripped her staff closer until Saito put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him and received a reassuring smile which calmed her nerves, if only slightly.

The creature that by now spotted them began its descent. Finally landing in front of them, his wings kicked up a storm of dust and vegetation obscuring its image from view. However, the dust soon cleared and Louise was finally able to understand the scale of the beast. Its head was three to four the size of her height and its body was proportional to it. It was two times larger than any other dragon she ever saw in her life and was now eyeing them with curiosity until Saito nudged her gently.

"Go on!" he slowly pushed her until she was in arm's length of the creature.

It narrowed its eyes at Louise and took a deep sniff of her tiny figure. It seemed to be in thoughts for a moment before it gently nuzzled in Louise's chest area, tickling her with his feathery scales. The little mage could no longer contain her giggles and started to push its head back.

"S-Stop t-that [giggle] tickles!" she fought back playfully, completely forgetting the scale of the beast in front of her.

"Alright my friend, that's enough!" Saito shouted at the dragon and it nodded and left poor Louise some room to breathe. "Louise, I want you to meet Osiris, my vanishing-drake."

"Your drake? Wait! You had a familiar?" she asked while pointing her finger at the boy making him chuckle.

"No Louise, he is not my familiar. We share a different bond. I found him two years ago, when he was just an egg after I captured the poachers who killed his parents. I took him in and watched over him, fed him and trained him. Do not be confused by his looks though. He is annoyingly smart, as much as a Rhyme dragon if those books I read were true or at least as smart as a familiar and he has certain powers that often come in handy. I called him here so that he can provide travel accommodations."

He grabbed Louise and jumped on the drake's back. Once there he gently set her down on the soft feathers while he settled on Osiris' head.

"How do we get to the town?" asked Saito.

Louise slowly climbed up to him and gently lowered herself in his lap. After all they were still master and familiar and… well truthfully… Louise was a little afraid of heights. "If you follow that road you will eventually see the town." she answered pointing at a nearby dirt road.

"Osiris, you heard the lady!" Saito told the drake and patted its head.

Osiris needed no more commands as his massive wings spread wide and, with a mighty kick of its feet, soared high into the air.

They were flying high so as to avoid attention and even though only a few minutes passed they could already see the town's outline. That's when Saito frowned and tightened his grip on Louise who was using him as a makeshift safety seat. This made the girl turn her head and look at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Saito focused a little and then responded "We are being tailed. I want to know who it is but it may imply some acrobatics that I am not so sure would meet your approval."

Louise's inner pride caused her to bristle "I can take it! Let's go!" she huffed.

He on the other hand used his chin to lightly tap her head causing her to bite her tongue. "Ouch!"

"I thought we agreed that there will be no foolish bravado and carelessness from now on. Louise, you promised you would be careful in your decisions. There is no reason to hide your fears from me. I could sense your reluctance when we took to the air, and for the same reason I will keep your secrets safe. I am your familiar Louise and I will honor that duty by protecting you, both mind and body." he spoke sternly causing her to grip his hands while looking away.

"I know! It's just that I… trust you…" she mumbled with restraint.

This actually brought a kind smile to his face "I understand. Well then, please remember those words because it will be a wild ride. Osiris!" Saito shouted and the drake roared loudly before increasing its speed to one that would be impossible considering its awe inspiring size and turned around to meet its pursuer who started evasive maneuvers.

Meanwhile Saito was keeping his eyes on the bluish blur that somehow managed to keep avoiding Osiris's hunt. At one point he cringed lightly when his arm started experiencing slight pains. Confident that his drake could follow their pray, he looked down to find Louise's clenched hand.

'For such a small body she has incredible strength when pushed to the limit…' he thought and returned his attention to the chase.

A few more aerial stunts later and Saito reached the limits of his patience. He could easily blast it out of the sky but he wanted to first see if it was friend or foe.

"Alright this has gone on far enough…" whispered Saito in exasperation. He then gently nudged his little passenger "Louise! Open your eyes Louise!" He felt her stir but otherwise she was still a little scared. "Louise, I told you that Osiris has a few abilities and if you don't open them you will miss a first row seat demonstration. I promise you it will be worth it!"

At her familiar's words, Louise's courage filled her enough so that she could comply but was still too frightened to be able to speak.

Saito nodded with a knowing smile before his expression became serious.

"Osiris!"

The mighty drake roared before a pinkish mist enveloped him and they disappeared with a thunder sound appearing directly in front their pray.

The blue blur chirped in surprise and tried to avoid but it was too close to Osiris who grabbed it in midair. It started thrashing around violently. That is until it received a bonk on the head from a curved wooden stick. The creature was a small blue Halkeginian dragon. Saito and Louise looked on curiously at the smaller dragon.

"You are that blue haired mage's familiar right?" Saito asked the dragon.

"Tabitha…" the said mage's head popped up from behind the dragon's shoulder.

"Tabitha?!" Louise exclaimed in surprise "Why were you following us?"

Another head popped up from behind the dragon's other shoulder "Hi darling!"

It was Saito's turn to be surprised "Miss Kirche? What are you doing here?"

Before Kirche could speak Tabitha interfered "Let go…?"

"Osiris!" Saito commanded and the drake let go of the flying familiar.

"Can we continue this conversation on the ground?" asked Louise and Saito nodded.

Down on the ground…

"Okay, so can you please explain why you were following us?" Saito asked curiously while crossing his hands.

"Darling you are so amazing! You managed to enslave a huge dragon!" she exclaimed not noticing Saito's frown.

"Miss Kirche!" he spoke with authority making the fire mage stop in her tracks "I will ask you to never use that word or any other related words when referring to either me or Osiris. He is not my slave nor will he ever be. He is my partner from before I met Louise and if you dare speak of him like a personal thing, like a possession, then what I did to Guiche will be considered more innocent than a tickle compared to what I will do to you."

"But daaaarling, you wouldn't hit a woman, would you?" Kirche mewed trying to charm him with her eye technique. It only made him chuckle though.

"I believe in gender equality miss. If women advocate that they want equal rights to men then they should also share equal consequences. Besides who said anything about hitting? There are other ways to shame someone, both honest and underhanded methods." he admitted with a predatory smirk that sent chills down Louise and Kirche's spines.

"I-I understand darling…" Kirche answered with sweat on her brow.

"Thank you!" Saito accepted with a kind smile.

They then heard a slight growl and a chip and turned to Osiris and Tabitha's familiar. The two reptiles were actually playing around with Osiris hunting the familiar and then acting as prey.

"It seems that Osiris has made a new friend in your familiar, miss Tabitha." Saito spoke with a small chuckle at the two draconic beings' behavior.

A small smile crept its way onto the mage's face as well but she immediately reverted back to her emotionless expression.

"Sylphid…" muttered Tabitha.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Familiar… Sylphid…"

"Oh, understood. A very distinct name for a very special rhyme dragoness…" admitted the boy making Tabitha's eyes widen slightly. Meanwhile Louise and Kirche were engaged in another pointless argument.

"How did you… know?" she asked.

"Hmm? About what?" Saito puzzled.

"Sylphid… rhyme dragon…" If possible Tabitha's voice was even weaker.

"I recently read a book about Halkeginian dragons and couldn't help compare them to the drakes of my homeland like Osiris here. I came upon a section about rhyme dragons and their natural magical abilities. When you were following me earlier I sensed a magical aura that was different from anyone that I knew of and when Osiris finally caught Sylphid I connected the dots. I take it is a secret?"

"Yes…" she answered.

"Then it is safe with me and Louise. That is… on one condition…" Saito smirked and she stayed silent but nodded "You let her play around with my Osiris every now and then. You see Osiris is the last of his kind: a vanishing-drake."

"Vanishing…drake?"

"Yes. They were a very rare species to begin with but they were hunted as prized pets and sources of rare reagents. In the end, they all but disappeared from the face of Anhew. Oh, I forgot! My homeland Anhew is…"

"No need… I know…"

Saito raised an eyebrow and Tabitha pointed to Kirche "Big breasts … and mouth…" she spoke causing him to laugh lightly.

"Well I still think that we have time to make it to town and have a little fun. Would you care to join us Tabitha."

The girl looked like she was contemplating this deeply although her face was still devoid of all references. In the end she nodded before they both went to break up the other two girls and finally flew off towards the town.


	5. Chapter 5 - Knighttime meeting

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies, Dragonheart and others.

There's a picture on my profile for the armor inspiration

Now for the Draconic language (You will see later) I used the online translator at draconic . twilightrealm

I posted the links on my profile.

Ecu gold – highest value currency in the world of ZnT. The living expenses in Tristain per person amounts to roughly120 ecu a year. That being said, 500 ecu were enough for a commoner family of four to live quite comfortably.

New gold = ~0.6 - 0.7 ecu or 2 ecu = 3 new gold

################## **STORY** ##############################

The party made their way through the crowded streets of the market section of the town. Everywhere you would look you would find a street vendor or a shop and there were plenty novelty items. Well, novelty for a certain dimension hopping boy that is… This brought a certain thought to the said boy's mind and so he chuckled lightly earning his companions' curiosity.

"What's so funny?" Louise asked curiously making Saito smile at her and gesture towards the different merchants.

"Well little master, I find it amusing that I am actually partaking in shopping from such a place."

His answer made Louise frown "'Such a place?'" she asked using his words, her feelings of being insulted present in her voice as were her hands on her hips.

Saito had to sweat drop at her antics although inside he was screaming to high-heavens about just how cute she seemed "Oh, please do not misunderstand my words Louise…" he said, the smile never leaving his chiseled face "Remember where I come from. When looking at Gaeia, Halkeginia would seem centuries behind in culture and other things. I mean absolutely no disrespect by this as it is refreshing seeing such a relatively pure land and it being real. The only time I participated in anything similar was in a fare that mimicked the old ways, when kings were virtually all powerful in their lands and knights had a code of honor that was more important than even their own lives, where stories of gallant heroes aiding queens and princesses had their roots. Haha, such fun events…"

The girls looked at him like he was a bard, a storyteller with the gift to capture the audience. Gaeia seemed like a very interesting place, and considering that none of his words have yet to be proven false, it all fueled their imagination.

Then Kirche looked puzzled "But darling, what about your homeland?"

"You mean Anhew?" Saito clarified and she nodded "Well, you have to understand that Anhew was ancient even before the other worlds were even beginning to form so by this statement, it is immeasurably older than Halkeginia, Gaeia or any other worlds. However that is not the case since the more advanced something gets the slower the progress it further makes. In the end, judging by the current flow of things I would say that Anhew is somewhere between nine and twelve… millennia ahead of Gaeia and fifteen to seventeen thousand years more advanced than Halkeginia."

"What?!" spoke Louise nearly shouting out her words "But, you said that Halkeginia is only centuries behind Gaeia so…" her thoughts left her as she couldn't find the right associations but Saito needed them no further to understand what she meant.

"Different words progress at different rates. Anhew is the fastest since although it did start from scratch, it was the first world and only world to be _made_, unlike the others who were a step ahead of being an accident. It started out with basic knowledge of how things worked at an intimate level and branched out from there whereas the others had to develop on their own.

I can say right now that Halkeginia depends too much on magic it does not fully understand and refuses to accept anything else and has been doing so since sir Brimir's death."

After experiencing her familiar's power, Louise knew he was right but her honor as a noble couldn't just let her agree with him off the bat "Why you… you make us sound like mindless animals!"

Saito looked surprised at her statement but quickly understood that he should have expected that. After all, his words seemed as farfetched as the alien theories back on Earth.

"Oh no, no, no…" Spoke Saito in rapid succession while waiving his hands in front of his chest in hopes of calming his mistress "I would never lower myself to the level where I would dare insult another culture. I am only stating facts. You can believe me or not, I will not force you but sooner or later you will realize that it is the truth and that neither you nor nobles, kings, queens or even sir Brimir are the center of existence." he explained with a disarming smile.

"How dare you speak of the Founder that way? Its blasphemy!" accused Louise.

Saito merely shrugged "And yet I can say that I am stronger now than he has ever been in his unfortunately shorted life. And before any of you contradict me think about this: If two swordsman wearing equal armor and having the same swords, with one being a master swordsman and the other one a novice clashed, who would win?"

"The master swordsman of course!" Louise spoke proudly whilst crossing her hands.

Saito nodded with a kind smile "Well think about this then: Ether is the polar partner of Void. Roughly they are absolutely equal in power but opposite in capabilities. Yet, I have intimate knowledge of how both of them work and the talent to bend Ether to my will. On the other hand your founder, while no doubt talented in controlling the Void, was basically a child with a stick when compared to me tactically. I am not saying that such a child could not take down an adult if he plays his hand right but I have learned long ago to expect the unexpected. In the end, if he and I would have fought, I would have ended him and still have enough strength in me to take out a country or three."

They all stood silent while contemplating his words.

Louise was spiritually wrestling with her _inner noble_ that all but called for the familiar to be burnt at the stake for blasphemy and her logic and reason repeating that he was right over and over again.

Tabitha was still as silent and emotionless as ever so no turmoil or serenity could be detected on her expression.

Kirche was the one who broke the silence "So darling…"

Saito interrupted her before she could finish her words "Yes miss Kirche, I am capable of conquering Halkeginia and this world with ease. By my standard, Sir Brimir was barely S-class in skill and with the Void he was just a little stronger than that. It's one thing to wield a weapon and another entirely different thing to master it. And while he was limited to Void only since he did not understand it's nature I can use the other five elements as well although I will never reach the potency of my affinity in my use of them."

Kirche gasped "You mean you can use fire as well as Void?"

Saito nodded "As well as water, wind and earth, well I find water and earth to be particularly easier due to their material alignment."

"Material… alignment…?" asked Tabitha in a gentle voice making Saito smile since someone was actually curious about other facts than power and those sorts of things.

The boy then raised his hand, palm facing the sky. An image appeared like a hologram showing colored disks one crimson-red, another ocean-blue, one pale greenish-cyan and another one mud-brown. They were accompanied by two other disks: one pure-silver and another one pure-white.

The arrangement of the said disks was particularly interesting. The silver one was near the center of the image just a little bit to the left of the white one. On the silver's left-top side were the ocean-blue and below that one rested brown circles whilst on the right of the white circle stood the crimson and cyan ones mirroring the others perfectly. (Like this: " **: + + : **")

"This is the chart of the elements that displays the intimate relationship between them. As you probably know each element has a weakness and by extension a strong point. They stand like this: Fire is strengthened by wind - wind erodes earth - earth slides with water which finally forms the circle with it dousing fire. However those are not all the properties the elements possess…

There are two other major factors to be included: Matter and energy. These two factors are intertwined with the processes of creation and destruction and thus cannot be excluded out of the equation…" explained Saito with a professor's face which quickly lost shape when he noticed his 'students'' lost expressions, even Tabitha's.

He sighed and face-palmed himself. For all the purity this world possessed, why couldn't it also possess scientific knowledge… He shook his head to clear his mind "Okay, let me rephrase that in a simpler form. Basically matter is everything with a touchable form and energy is something that we feel but we can't touch. Examples of this would be grass which is made of matter and the heat we feel from a candle is energy. Moving on, we come to the source of these factors, the purest forms of them and essentially the springs from which they flow: Ether and Void, which in the chart are the elements in the middle. Ether represents the material and so water and earth, which are by nature matter are closely linked to it while Void is energy in its most virgin form and thus fire and wind, which is the energy contained in the air, are more directed to it."

Saito finished his educational rant and found his 'pupils' deep in thought. He chuckled when he saw the swirls forming in Louise's eyes although there was an understanding look hidden beneath them.

"Not to mention the complex relationship that exists between Ether and Void…But enough about that for the time being. Since we came here to eat I say we continue with our plans." he said although he immediately realized that he had a simple problem. But with a quick scan of his surroundings he immediately found a solution.

"Before that though, I have some other business to take care of. Why don't you ladies go ahead and pick a place to enjoy the day off while I see to it."

Louise snapped out of her study induced dizziness and looked at him with worry. "But how will you know where we are?"

Saito smiled and gently placed a hand on her head "We are linked through our bond. I found out that I can always feel you no matter where you are and I'm able to detect the signature of your new staff therefore so long as you have it close to you I will always be able to find you, even if you were on the other side of the world. Now please find a place you consider decent enough to spend our time with our new allies."

Louise blushed at his words and action. Just knowing that he would always watch over her made her feel safe and needing no more words, she nodded and took Kirche and Tabitha with her to find the perfect café.

The search didn't last long and soon all three of them were sitting at an outdoor table of a classy place enjoying a beverage of choice, which in Louise's case was a sweet, fruity tea.

Half an hour later Saito appeared and joined them ordering the same tea as her as it turned out he had the same sweet tooth as his master.

They quickly got bored of that and decided to do some window shopping. They visited different stores when Saito noticed an arms dealership hidden in a decrepit alley.

"Can we please visit that store as well? It is the only weapons store I have seen so far and I need some maintenance equipment for my sword." he asked them and they agreed, albeit reluctantly since the stench made Louise and Kirche want to run away.

The bell ringed announcing their entry to the shopkeeper. He, for a lack of a better description (and to keep the rambling to a minimum) looked everything like the greedy and slightly dishonest man he was.

He immediately eyed the entry party quickly deducing that they were nobles and thought that he could make a quick buck although his eyes stayed a little too much on Kirche's figure.

The girls started looking at the different weapons he had in stock while Saito went directly to the desk "Excuse me sir, would you be…"

"I already know sir, you would like a weapon!" he spoke with a little too much volume and glee.

"Actually I…" Saito sweat-dropped. Pushy salesmen always seemed to slightly annoy him.

"Don't worry sir, I know exactly what it is by looking at the sword sheathed at your belt." the shopkeeper interrupted again and pulled out an ornate rapier. "This type of sword is becoming very popular amongst the nobles lately."

"How so?" asked Louise.

"Well the court nobles have been arming their servants to protect themselves and their homes against a thief or something like that. Well, what do you think about the weapon sir?"

Saito took it in hand and examined it for a few seconds before setting it down with a serious face "It is indeed a marvelous piece."

"The finest for my customers!" the salesman beamed.

Saito sighed "Unfortunately it would be a lot more useful as an ornament than serving in actual combat." The teen pointed at the guard "The engravings reduce the structural strength of the guard meaning a heavy enough blow would shatter it to pieces and the wielder would lose a hand. The metal used in forging the blade has not been tempered at all. While this does preserve the metallic luster it greatly weakens the blade and the material used to wrap the handle is improper, as beautiful it is to look at it would cause this rapier to slip out of hand. I'm sorry but I can't say this is a good sword at all but it could make quite the exquisite decoration."

The man began to sweat. Although he didn't say anything about the blade this could be taken as trying to cheat a noble and that would spell serious trouble. He quickly thought of a plan and brought out an even more ornate broadsword from a case nearby. "How about this one sir? It was even enchanted by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Spee."

Trying not to offend the man, Saito took this one as well but this time instead of his serious face he frowned "I don't know what enchantments this _Lord Spee_ used but I cannot find even a trace of magical enhancements on this object. In fact there is no magical essence flowing through this sword. Not to mention that this thing is even more useless in battle than that rapier. It is made of gold which is soft and heavy, overall one of the worst materials you would use in a sword. The handle is wrapped in the same cloth as the previous one and the gems that adorn the guard upset the overall handling balance. Quite frankly, if this wasn't made of gold I would say this is something that you would give to one who you want to perish in battle. I think that whoever supplied you this blade tricked you my good sir."

Before the man could answer a voice resounded through the shop "Finally! Somebody who knows a thing or two about swords…"

Saito looked around finding nobody "Umm, would you mind introducing yourself, whoever you are?"

"Down here kid!"

The boy looked towards the sound of the voice and found something he did not expect at all "By Mikael, a sentient blade!" shouted Saito as he picked the blade by the handle and instantly felt his power amplify. 'Definitely a weapon…' thought the dimension traveler.

"Stupid Derf! Stop disrupting business!" shouted the shopkeeper.

The sword laughed "What business? You couldn't have suckered this guy in a hundred years!"

Before they could argue further Saito, who until then was examining Derf, intervened "The core is good, although there is some heavy surface rust. The grip is good and the guard seems sturdy if not a little 'loose'…" he chuckled when he realized he just called a sword, talkative.

"Hey! I resent that!" defended the sword.

"The balance is extraordinary. It feels like not a single grain of metal is out of place and I can definitely feel powerful spirit enchantments flowing through it…" Saito muttered not paying attention to the outside world. "How much for this sword?"

"I would normally charge a hundred new gold for sword like that, but for that stupid Derf I ask for fifty if you take him far away from here. He is always messing my deals."

"As if you had any!" shouted Derf.

"Deal and I want three sets of your best sword maintenance kits!"

"Darling, are you sure you want that rusty sword? I could get you any other weapon in the store." Kirche asked with worried eyes which nobody understood their place. What was there to be worried about? They considered it another one of the promiscuous woman's tactics.

Saito nodded with a smile "Yes miss Kirche, I am definitely sure that I want this blade. It may seem a little tattered but it is by far the best sword in this store."

"You got that right partner! I am the legendary Deflinger!" Derf shouted proudly and Saito's eyes bulged and his grip tighten "Yo partner! Are you alright?"

"Incredible!" whispered the boy before shaking his head "Sorry about that, I just tried to channel some of my magic through you and it got absorbed and radiated. To think that you were warded with anti-magic of this level is astounding. Forget about being the strongest blade in this store, you could very well be the most powerful sword in the world."

"Aww geez partner, you're making me rust at the guard." Derf joked making Saito laugh.

Saito admired Derf a little more before he asked "Derflinger, do you mind if I performed a scrying spell to find out a little more about you?"

"I'm just a talking sword partner, what do I have to hide? Go ahead and from now on call me Derf."

Saito nodded before closing his eyes to focus. He muttered a few Vs'shtak words although they were too quiet for anyone to hear as his hand and the sword in it began to glow. A second later Saito opened his eyes and they were fully black with rays of light (like a space ship cockpit) going through them. Two more seconds later and he blinked, his eyes returned to normal.

The dimension traveler looked at Derf with respect before a shit eating grin got plastered on his face.

"Ah sorry it took so long sir! I had to search for these in the back since most customers prefer to buy new weapons rather than repair old ones."

Saito nodded towards him with a smile "It was no problem my good man! I took this opportunity to bond with Derf here."

The salesman frowned "He isn't giving you any trouble is he sir?"

"Oh no, quite the opposite actually. You could say that we were made for each other." Explained Saito with a grin.

"Well, in that case, may you own him in good health '…_and as far away from my store as possible'. _Anyway, one sword and three wipers, that will be three hundred and forty ecu sir."

Louise was about to pay for him since he was her familiar when Saito fished out a decent sized bag from his pocket and threw it on the counter. When it hit the wood in front of the man, the mouth unraveled and a lot of gold coins poured out of it.

"This, this is way too much sir! There must be at least a thousand ec…" the shopkeeper began but quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from doing something stupid.

"There should be one thousand five hundred ecu in that bag and you can keep it all!" smirked Saito.

"T-th-thank you sir!" the man started to greedily brush the gold that was spread in front of him.

"Saito, are you crazy? That was enough gold to buy a mansion and some decent land around it too!" asked a stupefied Louise.

Saito just grinned at her mischievously "Tell me Louise, an artifact that belonged to sir Brimir… what would it be worth, in gold?"

The little mage took on a thinking pose "Well it would technically be invaluable but even the 'cheapest' one would sell for a king's ransom. Wait, don't tell me that that sword is a Founder's artifact!" she shouted earning the attention of Kirche and Tabitha. The clerk was too busy counting the gold to hear her.

The boy chuckled "Close enough but no. Derf is actually the sword that his first familiar used…" he paused when he saw their eyes widen "That's right! Everyone meet Derflinger, the sword of the original legendary Right Hand of God, Gandalf!"

With those words he left them mute. What was there to say? Fifteen hundred ecu for an artifact related in any way to the founder could be considered close to ripping the man off, even for a rusty kitchen knife and what Saito did could be taken as honorable knowing the fact that he could have gotten everything for almost four times less.

They exited the shop with the plan of heading back to the academy since they were still in shock. Seriously, everything this familiar did seemed to be of the most unexpected nature. Just when you think that you couldn't be surprised by his words or actions, his luck would slap you over the head.

"So you're a 'wielder', partner? Well this is unexpected." spoke Derf while Saito was busy examining it and considering the best way to restore the sentient weapon.

"Wielder?" asked Louise.

"Well hello to you too! Who are you?" asked the sword.

"I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, the third daughter of the La Valliere family!" the little mage proudly presented herself.

"She is Louise and my master mage to which I am a familiar." explained Saito.

"So she is the Void mage?" questioned Derf earning a gasp from Kirche.

Saito turned to the girl and raised an eyebrow "Is there a problem miss Kirche?"

"Y-y-you mean Zero Louise's element is the lost Void?" asked the seductress while pointing at the mage-familiar pair.

Saito sighed "I would have thought that it was as obvious as the sky. No skill in controlling the known elements, powerful explosions, a unique familiar and many more. I believe miss Tabitha already had it figured out."

Kirche looked at her friend who nodded back "Eeehh?!"

Louise flashed a cocky smirk "Heh! Take that you easy woman!" she beamed but hit on her crown courtesy of Saito made her crouch whilst holding her head.

"Louise, that was not very nice… Pride precedes disaster, and a haughty attitude comes before a fall. Possessing a unique skill does not mean that you are above all others. That kind of thinking always leads to ruin. Power comes with responsibility and they are directly proportional to one another. The greater the strength the harder is the failure if you do not expect it and arrogance blinds the senses to the unexpected. If you become arrogant you start underestimating people and that is a recipe for doom. I have faith that you are a much better person than that so please apologize to miss Kirche for insulting her."

"But, but…" Louise began to mumble while playing with her hands and looking away.

Saito gently caressed the place where he admonished her "It is easy to get revenge for something but it is much, much harder to forgive. It is called turning the other cheek and only the strongest can do it. Are you strong Louise?"

The little mage bit her lip and slowly turned towards her classmate. His words and her pride were really kicking up a storm inside her but in the end, Saito struck true "I… apologize for calling you an easy woman…" Louise spoke softly to Kirche's surprise. The red-hair didn't think this would happen although considering Saito, she shouldn't have been so surprised.

She thought of milking this for everything it was worth but one look at the familiar boy erased those thoughts from her mind. Apparently he had sensed her intentions and his eyes were now red, clearly visible even behind his bangs and his face sported a look that practically screamed 'Go ahead, I dare you!'

"Apology accepted… and I'm sorry for calling you a Zero…" the woman responded both out of understanding and pure fear of the dangerously looking magic protector.

Her words actually made Louise smile and move her head from side to side "Actually… I kind of gotten to like that runic name…" she spoke softly.

"What?" asked Kirche in surprise.

Louise chuckled and sent a mock angry look at Saito who blinked in surprise "To quote a particularly troublesome familiar: 'Void is the power to reduce all to _zero_.'"

Saito smiled at those words and ruffled the little mage's hair earning a playful death glare "Anyway miss Kirche, I ask you that you keep this a secret. I know that I am asking a lot of you considering that you are loyal to your own country but try to understand that this information would do a lot more wrong than it is worth. Humans are creatures led by emotion and imagine your leader hearing that Tristania has a Void mage. The best outcome would be the increase of weariness over the entire country but sadly that would be far from the most probable situation which would be war. 'Why should they hold such power?' Fear would encompass the region and the paranoid thoughts of man would bring suffering to the innocents who desire peace. Many lives would be lost on both sides and hatred would spread like fire in a forest. Such a waste…"

Both Tabitha and Kirche nodded, the later which with a worried but understanding look etched in her eyes.

"You're quite pure, aren't you, partner?" Derf broke the silence.

Saito chuckled sadly "No, I just hate the loss of life. If I could choose between thousand riches or a year of unbreakable peace, then I would gladly give my life for the later. To me, killing is the most disgusting thing ever and justified or not, murder is still murder and, in the end it is worthy of the highest form of loathing, and anything else is mendable. Violence, slavery, thievery and so on, all can heal or be mended but we are not gods. What right have we to take what we cannot return? Even those who have done wrong deserve to live, no matter the crime for they too are children to a parent, a sibling to a person or even a parent to a child…" spoke Saito with a grave tone which quickly became chirpy "But those are just my opinions and I have not stated them to ruin the mood. Let's return home, shall we?"

"Wha…?" muttered Kirche.

Louise sigh "Don't let it get to you. He is just like that, one minute he is wise as a sage, another he is as innocent as a child. Crazy troublesome familiar…"

"Looks like I was right in choosing you as a partner after all…" spoke Derf with pride.

Saito smiled kindly "Hopefully your trust is well placed. Ah before we head home I would like to try something. I have a spell that will restore you and change your base material to a much stronger one. Would you like to try? After all I spent good money on you."

Louise then remembered something "Speaking of which, where did you get all that ecu?"

This time Saito offered a cocky smirk "Well, when we arrived in town I remembered that I had no form of this world's currency on my person so while I was looking around town I found a jeweler and traded some common minerals with him. However when I say common I mean common in Anhew. Here they are quite unique so I managed to bargain with him for a reasonable sum of twenty one thousand ecu. I must remember to once again thank sir Osmond for explaining the currency system here.

"Twenty one thousand?! That's enough money to buy a small town!" Kirche pointed out in surprise.

Saito chuckled "Anyway, returning to the main question. What do you say partner? It will turn your blade into adamantine which is ridiculously strong making you the perfect pair to my Elignear" he asked the sword.

"Elignear?" asked Derflinger.

Saito nodded and unclipped the dragon sword from his hip and brought them both close together. Now everyone could see the weapon in full detail. It's sheathe was ebony black with the tip reinforced with a silvery metal and the neck presented the same decoration but in the form of a nest of branches. There were some silver etchings spiraling around it from neck to tip but none of the girls could make out if it was writing or not. The sword hilt seemed formed from the tail of the dragon that was coiled at the guard. "_Elignear_ means 'Defender' for it is the blade that defends the innocent. The markings on the sheathe are written in Vs'shtak or Ancient Draconic and it is the will that the first Etherion left for her inheritors. It translates as following: '_I am sworn to valor. My heart knows only virtue. My blade defends the helpless. My might upholds the weak.__ My __word speaks only truth. My wrath undoes the wicked. My love cleanses hate. And my wisdom… frees the soul…_'"

"Wow, I can say that I would have liked her." Derf said comically.

Saito was in deep thought as his eyes were fixed upon the markings "These words are my code of honor, my very core. There is no rule higher for me than them. I would much rather suffer for eternity then renounce this oath for I too am sworn to valor by the power that has chosen me."

"Yo, partner, don't you be going all mushy on me you hear?" Derf commented making Saito laugh.

"Derf, you and I are going to get along just fine, now, how about that offer?"

The sentient sword went silent for a bit but then asked "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Positive." Saito answered without hesitation.

"Then go ahead!"

The teen nodded and reattached Elignear to his hip before unsheathing Derflinger. He pointed the sword forward and closed his eyes in concentration "_Nomag wer geou di silny erlelee dout kihlek,_ ADAMANTINE EMBRACE!"

Just as he finished chanting a silver ring of energy shot up his arm and went up Derflinger's length, chipping away the rust and reforming the parts that have been damaged due to neglect, leaving a the handle and guard looking the same but brand new. However the blade was vastly different now. Instead of rust red it was now ebony black with silver tribal markings and a shining silvery edge.

"Holy smokes partner, I feel freshly forged. We have got to do that again, woh-hoo!" shouted Derf, being high of the change of alloy and the energy charge.

"I'm glad you like it!" Saito chuckled.

"Like it? I LOVE IT! I feel like I could fell a mountain by myself!"

Saito nodded and sheathed the talking blade on the other side of his hip. It would take just a little while for him to get used to dual wielding again but he thought that the time spent was well worth it.

No more words were said as they flew back to the academy and turned in for the night, the girls having a little difficulty processing the day's events and Saito being happy to have found a new friend.


	6. Chapter 6 - Knight in Shining Armor

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero in any of its forms or shapes, nor do I own the inspirations for the add-ins.

Inspirations: Heroes of Might and Magic Series, Earthsea Trilogy, Underworld Movies, Dragonheart and others.

Ecu gold – highest value currency in the world of ZnT. The living expenses in Tristain per person amounts to roughly120 ecu a year. That being said, 500 ecu were enough for a commoner family of four to live quite comfortably.

New gold = ~0.6 - 0.7 ecu or 2 ecu = 3 new gold

**A.N. **_**I'm baaaaaack! In this chapter Saito will present my views on Magic by teaching Louise. This means that he will ramble a lot (even more than usual :D).**_

_**Also, he understands the political and social situation of Halkeginia and Elven Race and his position as familiar to a noble. In an age where the Faith of the Founder Brimir has as much power as the Catholic Church during the Crusades (Vittorio exterminated a village using that power and enforces the Human-Elf) his radical views could be considered heretic and traitorous to the crown. However, he doesn't give a flying… you know. The only problem he could have is that it would be problematic for Louise as he is her familiar so he tones it down a bit but still speaks out against class segregation and racism quite loudly and clearly.**_

_**He doesn't fear consequences for himself. Here is a little clue to one of his abilities: He can create and control all forms of matter including antimatter. And a pinhead of matter-antimatter mix could level New York. And it takes more energy for him to release himself when he is constipated than to create and direct that much antimatter. Get it? **_

Some spells:

*Levitation – Low D-class Ether spell – Often considered with a wind spell, it is actually a very low Ether spell as it controls a property of matter, respectively Gravity. Because it is very easy to cast and control, Halkeginian mages don't even know of Ether. It is one of the few spells that don't require an affinity for the Primordial Powers to use. Examples of other spells include Haste (also confused with wind, actually a Void spell), Lightning (Ether – confused again with Wind), Ball Light (Void – confused with Fire) and so on…

*Arcane Dispel – Low C-class spell – Could be considered D-rank due to it being easily learned and cast, however Anhew classifies things by potential and not by difficulty. In the right hands it could be very dangerous. It works only against Arcane type spells – Will based – so it does not affect spirit, rune, artifact and dimensional magic. The user has to have both the skill to sense the flow of mana of the target as well as have enough power to overcome the spell.

*Val Vanta – Mid D-class Wind spell – Generates a breeze of air whose strength is proportionate to the amount and potency of the mana used. Generally used to clean an area of dust or soot or to cool off during a hot day. (I didn't use any translators for this. The general translation would be: 'Air, air obey my voice, gently blow in the direction I'm pointing at, WIND WAVE!')

############################ **STORY** ##############################

Yesterday the protagonists of our story had returned to the academy from their little trip to town and parted for their own rooms… after dinner of course. There were no more incidents other than Kirche practically begging Saito to allow her to ride Osiris with him. Saito skillfully dodged her by pointing out that Tabitha would be all alone for the return. Kirche then naturally volunteered Louise to accompany her but he evaded that as well by pointing out that Louise was his master so he could not be parted from her. The woman begrudgingly accepted that and the warrior could finally breathe easy.

Right now the sun was just barely showing its first rays of the day over the skies of Tristain. At the Academy, more precisely in a particular student's room, things were beginning to stir.

Louise could be seen gently snoozing away, her tiny form twitching slightly, no doubt the product of a vivid dream. What could she be dreaming no one knew though if one were to look closely you would notice a faint blush adorning her cheeks and quite a mischievous grin plastered between them.

Just then a shadow appeared over her. It had a distinctive human shape and was steadily growing as the owner inched closer and closer until he stopped just at the edge of the bed.

Saito chuckled lightly as he came upon the snoozing form of his little mistress. She looked so innocent and cute that it could almost be considered a crime to disturb her. Sadly it needed to be done. The boy contemplated on how to wake her. He thought about using the same way Corvine used on him when he was a trainee but remembered his vow to never use those… torture methods on anyone. After all, being magically flung from bed into a basin of ice cold water was never a good way to start the day. It builds character, the master trainer used to say. 'Character' Saito scoffed. It just built and innate fear of oversleeping...

He vowed that when he would be a teacher, he wouldn't ever ruin the mornings of his protégés. After all, he learned the hard way that when you wake up someone in a more humane way, then the day would be far more productive for the both of them.

With that thought in mind he bent down and spoke gently.

"Time to awaken little master, we have a big day ahead of us." he delicately coerced her.

Louise moved a bit before her blush intensified a shade or two, the smile never leaving her face. "Saito, no… don't…" she mumbled without opening her eyes.

The warrior raised an eyebrow before smiling "Come on Louise." Saito insisted.

Her eyes tightened a bit and her legs stirred under the covers. "Don't… its indecent…"

Now that was unexpected. It didn't take a genius to figure out just what exactly the little mage was dreaming. The warrior's eyes widened as his mouth fell in shock, words and actions leaving him in the current situation. That was normal considering the budding feelings growing in his heart. He knew of course that his soul harbored feelings for the pink head and thus he would go to the end of the word for her. However, right now he couldn't help himself from smirking deviously as a thought popped in his head.

Saito brushed a piece of hair away from the side of her head and lowered himself so to whisper directly into the now exposed ear.

"Oh Louise~ If you don't awaken right now, I won't be able to stop myself~" he purred seductively, all the while caressing her arm slowly and gently with the tip of his fingers.

Louise's eyes snapped open. Without giving herself the time to adjust she whipped her whole body towards the person whom the voice belonged to and came face to face with a smiling Saito. Seeing her familiar the poor little mage-in-training couldn't help but imitate a very, very ripe tomato.

"Good morning Louise!" chirped the young man who found it very hard to keep himself from chuckling at her confused and embarrassed face.

"Wha-?" she managed to squeeze out before being interrupted again.

Saito smiled mischievously "I said good morning. Have you slept well? By the way, you were talking in your sleep. Pleasant dreams perhaps?" he poked at her.

After digesting his words, her redness increased by a shade or two. Seeing Louise in shock Saito chuckled kindly as he decided that it was enough for now and brought a warm, moist towel to her face and wiped the sleep, and shock, away. Louise let her familiar remove the last remains of her slumber, the gentle ministrations of his actions doubling as a very relaxing face massage. She almost pouted when he finished but the moisture made her face feel a little cold and redirected her thoughts.

Seeing Louise's happy morning face, Saito almost pounced on her right there, tempted to squeeze the life out of her in a very tight hug but he composed himself when he remembered just why he awoke her before the sun had showed itself completely.

"Come on mistress, we must get you ready. Today is the day we begin your training in the arts so it's important to get an early start." he rubbed the crown of her head as he spoke.

Louise's eyes widened, the prospect of receiving training from her monstrously powerful familiar being a powerful motivator.

"R-Right!" she chirped and got out of bed and moved towards her personal bathroom to freshen up a bit. However she stopped when Saito put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please wait a moment." the young warrior said as he handed her a set of clothes. The first thing she noticed is that, except for the white socks and panties, they were pink with white trimmings. She raised an eyebrow at the strange clothes having never seen the design before. "Please change into these. They will serve a much better purpose during training compared to your standard uniform."

Louise looked at him for a bit before nodding and continuing towards her initial destination while Saito took to cleaning up the room. However, it wasn't ten minutes before he heard a scream followed by the distinct sound of objects crashing into the floor. Saito immediately made his way towards the bathroom and knocked.

"Louise, are you alright in there?" he worryingly asked.

"Saito, help me!" came her answer.

The warrior entered in a fury nearly blasting the door of its hinges. He scanned the area for any dangers or enemies but found none. Instead he found something that made his cheeks tinge red. What he saw was an almost naked Louise, clad only in her undergarments. The clothes, now identified as a form of sportswear was all over her body, wrapped around either an arm, a leg or her head. It seems that dressing up in them was a little bit of a challenge. A challenge that she lost badly, if her being sprawled on the floor of the smaller room was any indication. This is why you couldn't tell why Saito was blushing. It could be either from arousal or from his saintly composure that kept him from adding to her embarrassment by bursting in a fit of laughter.

He made his way to her, doing his best to ignore her state of dress and untangled her from the mess she made. Saito chuckled slightly when she pouted, her cheeks basically burning with shame of being seen in that state. He said no word about the situation and just patted her ruffled hair calming her down before helping her dress.

First was a simple cotton short-sleeved t-shirt. It was nothing special except for the fact that it was quite long. Next was a pair of cotton shorts that were tight enough to show her rare womanly features but loose enough as to not be uncomfortable or impede movement. Finally was a zip-up long-sleeve track shirt. It all finished with a pair of white cotton socks that reached a little bit beneath her knees.

In the end Louise had to admit that she looked pretty good in it, even though it was kind of simple and… not noble.

Saito then took her brush and proceeded to fix her mangled hair. He was gentle but hasty, not really caring for details. She didn't mind though and just melted in his arms. It was like she was once again being spoiled by her older sister Cattleya and that was always a treat for her. But alas he once again finished much too early for her liking but this time Louise understood why. Training was very important to both of them and every minute counted.

Saito then presented her with a weird pair of shoes. These were white with three pink stripes on the outside. The top looked like it had straps but there were no laces to tie.

The boy chuckled at her bewildered expression at seeing the pair of sneakers in his hands. He then unzipped the Velcro strips and handed them to her. She sat on the bed with her back to him and managed to put them on without any more incidents. When she sat up and turned to him Louise noticed that he had changed into a similar outfit as hers. The only differences were that his pants were long and the color scheme was mostly silver with sky-blue highlights.

"How did you do that?" she asked in surprise.

"Do what?" he answered.

"How did you change so fast?"

Saito chuckled again and patted her head "I will teach you this eventually. Right now it would be much too confusing for you if I were to explain." he answered.

"Really?" Louise asked again, this time in mild irritation. After all, even if she had trouble understanding the theory, she mostly considered herself a hard study and didn't like it when people underestimated her knowledge. In fact, she was part of the top five students in magical theory in her year. Only her… explosive attempts at magic held her back.

Saito sensed her plight and nodded "Unless of course you have knowledge of parallel existences, universal substrates, as well as, quasi-dimensional and string theories. Not to mention rune circuitry, personal wave keying, pocket dimension generation, dimensional layering and general warp safety regulation." he explained in a matter-of-factly way.

" Parallel-_queasy_ strings? Cir-something? Geez, do you even speak Halkeginian?" Louise pouted cutely, her red cheeks showing either her embarrassment or anger… whichever came first…

Saito patted her head "Soon, those words will not seem so foreign. Those are highly advanced subjects that take years to fully master… or a good teacher. It took me two and a half years to achieve a level where I am confident enough to teach, and I had the best teachers and education, not to mention the fact that I was born and raised in a different cultural environment, one not so dead set on traditions and social status."

Louise frowned "What do traditions and status have to do with it?"

The young warrior crossed his arms and answered with a serious face "Everything. Those two are the mortal enemies of development. Traditions should be considered guidelines, however there are some that think of them as rules. That is further amplified when social status is taken into consideration turning them into laws. Humans are fickle creatures. Deep down, everyone desires power, wealth and respect. In the end, what separates us from animals is our morality. However, not all possess the will to maintain it."

The little mage raised an eyebrow "I ask again, do you even speak Halkeginian?" she huffed in confusion as she stomped on the floor.

Saito sighed "Let me put it this way. Traditions can stand in the way of progress. And like I said, social status is a catalyst. Let's imagine two random kingdoms. The heir to one of them is a princess and she is supposed to marry the prince heir of the other one. If the wedding doesn't happen there would be a long and bloody war between the two kingdoms. Following me so far?"

Louise nodded and so he continued "Now here comes the 'fun' part…" he air-quoted "… tradition states that the princess' 'privates' cannot be seen nor touched by any male except by her father and future husband…"

"Naturally…" Louise nodded with a smirk.

The dimensional-traveler ignored her interruption "… however, we introduce a new situation. The princess is suddenly the victim of an assassination attempt. The perpetrator has managed to stab her in the chest area. And before you ask, the fate of the assassin is irrelevant. Now then, the princess managed to live but her life hangs by a thread. In the palace there is someone who could save her who has a magic touch that can heal any injury by touching the afflicted area and for the record this person's interest in the lady's body is purely medical. The only problem is that the person is male. Still keeping up Louise?"

"Yes." she answered in a whisper as the full prospect of the imaginary situation began to affect her.

Saito nodded sagely "Good! Now as you probably figured it out, the dilemma is as following. Tradition states that if the princess is 'defiled' by another one outside of the ones mentioned before then she and the one who broke tradition are to be banished or killed. However if he does not touch the area then he cannot heal her and she will die. In the end, both situations lead to war. You think about that..."

Louise frowned "What about you? What would you have done?"

Saito moved towards the door, the look on his face being completely serious. He turned the knob and moved to exit the room. He didn't even look at his master but still he answered "The right thing…"

"That's not an answer!" the pink head huffed.

The dimension traveler turned his head towards her "Sometimes there is no such thing as a simple answer. In those cases you just have to follow your heart. Come on now, we wasted enough time."

With that they exited the dorm in silence and made their way towards the Vestri Court.

Saito smiled as he took in the fresh air. He then turned towards Louise "Now then, I will explain the training plan. I ask you not to interrupt me during the briefing. If you have any questions or objections we will tackle them when I finish, okay?"

Louise nodded with an excited glow evident in her eyes.

"First we will begin with some light stretching and running just to remove the last of the night's lethargy. After that we will do some exercises to increase our stamina. Following that we will meditate until breakfast. We will then break for breakfast and return to study some theory of both magical and non-magical subjects. Any questions so far?"

The little girl nodded and asked with a little reluctance "What kind of stamina exercises will we do?"

Saito himself nodded "Simple running for now. After a few more days I will introduce you to bicycling and if I find a spot then maybe we will go for a day or two of swimming."

"What's 'bicycling'?" Louise asked with a little excitement.

Saito smiled and patted her head "A bicycle is basically two wheels positioned in a line on a frame. Although it's a little more complicated than that, well you will see then. It's a little difficult to get used to at first but it can be very fun after that. Anything else you wish to ask?"

Louise blushed with embarrassment whilst fidgeting a little "…swim" she mumbled.

"Sorry?" Saito raised an eyebrow.

The little mage started playing with the hem of her t-shirt "I…swim…"

"I can't understand if you don't say it loud and clear." Her familiar pointed out.

Finally Louise shouted with all her heart "**I can't swim!**". She huffed and panted, the immediate loss of air in her lungs leaving their mark on her. However, she then realized that, much to her embarrassment, she probably let her whole world know her shameful little secret. Now, the young girl knew her familiar would laugh and make fun of her… she should have known better.

Saito nodded in acceptance with an amused smile. It was not the kind where one would laugh at someone's misfortune but the kind parents show their children when they do something that is considered cute "Then I will teach you. We will just have to schedule some lessons during our free time." he calmed her down.

This time the little mage's cheeks tinged pink. Feelings relatively unknown to her were stirring up inside of her chest. It was something that she only shared with her sister Cattleya yet it was slightly different, it carried with it a feeling of desire, desire towards her familiar. Saito was so caring and mature. He never laughed at her inabilities but did his best to correct them and stomp her feelings of failure. And never did he criticize her shortcomings only pointed towards her strong points. True, he had made it more than clear that he didn't quite fancy Halkeginian nobility, precisely the power they possessed over the lesser fortunate people but he never did it irrationally, nor did he ever treat her Academy colleagues or staff with disrespect. She somewhat understood that he just didn't have faith in them to not abuse their power. Truthfully, Louise was herself beginning to doubt the way of her land, however her upbringing still held firm in her life. One thing for sure though… if he were to take action against Halkeginia, Louise was sure that there wasn't anything they could do to stop him. Ever since the fight with Guiche she knew that in terms of power, skill and knowledge, he was as close to a god as humanly possible.

Saito cleared his throat to bring her out of the daydreaming state "Well then, shall we begin?" he asked. They were running a little behind schedule. "Just do what I do for now."

Louise nodded and began to mimic his motions. He began with light stretching of a limb here and there, some twisting at the hip area, squats, some easy jumping, all with breaks in between. And even if Louise was slightly panting she could say that it was actually fun. Being a mage in training implied less and less time for physical things and more for the intellectual ones. She couldn't remember the last time she even went for a relaxing stroll anywhere. At this age she was required to spend most of her time with purpose and to leave any kind of frolicking behind.

After the warm up they began jogging around the court. They even managed to do three laps around the area where Saito returned Guiché's rear-end on a silver platter that faithful day.

Even though she was feeling tired, Louise was now sporting quite a large smile on her petite face. After managing to regain her breathing under control she anxiously awaited the next exercise.

"So, what's next?" she huffed, the fatigue showing itself.

Saito smiled at her enthusiasm although he looked like he didn't even broke a sweat. He cupped her head into his hand "That's enough physical exercises for today so next is meditation. Although I have to say that I am both proud and surprised. The former because of your dedication and the later for the lack of complaint regards to anything we did today."

Louise blushed a little and scratched her cheek with a finger "Well, it's not like I'm not used to physical training. Even though I'm clearly out of shape now, my mother used to make me undergo a 'similar' training regime." she confessed with a shudder.

The young warrior raised an eyebrow "I take it that it's not exactly a pleasant memory, is it?"

The mage violently shook her head from side to side "It was awful!" she exclaimed "She used to dress into her armor from when she was a Manticore Knight and make me dodge wind blades. And the worst part is that she is too strong to control her own power. No matter if she held back or not. The lowest she could go could cut a house in half. She wanted to make sure I was capable of at least dodging someone like that. I used to be sore all over, not to mention the countless cuts and scratches. I think that's why my big sister learned water magic. It was so she could heal me…" she shuddered again, this time with more force.

Saito trembled himself and prayed that Corvine and Karin would never, **ever** meet. When taking those two's training regiments into consideration, the need for 'interrogation' specialists reduced considerably. "Well, I promise, you don't have to worry about that from me. I am a firm believer that the most important thing is to have fun while becoming stronger."

Louise smiled at her familiar's words. This was a dream come true. Not only was she supposed to get stronger but it wouldn't be at the cost of countless hours of pain.

They made their way to a nearby tree and sat down cross-legged. Saito then began the explanation.

"Right… now, meditation has multiple purposes. The first and foremost is relaxation of the mind. It helps reduce stress and anxiety leading to a better, longer life. The second one is self-awareness. By meditating, you begin to assess yourself and your capabilities thus finding out which are your strong points that could be valued and what weaknesses need correcting. Another purpose is to connect with nature itself. Understand that we are just one speck of dust compared to the grander visions of life, however even that tiny speck can mean something if it's in the right spot. Finally the last goal is to understand, and connect to, your life force which is the source of all magic." the young boy explained sagely.

However, Louise had lost herself in his words "How can we do all that?" she huffed in irritation. This seemed like another one of his crazy, although working, ideas but mostly crazy nonetheless.

Saito smiled kindly "Simple! Just copy my stance, close your eyes and try to relax. Inhale in three steps and exhale in two. Empty your mind of thoughts and look deep into yourself."

Louise raised an eyebrow but did what he asked her. She adopted the proper meditation position and closed her eyes. She began to focus, trying to force the thoughts out of her mind. However she just didn't seem to get it. When she managed to quell a thought two others popped in her head. And with that, impatience seemed to take hold of her core. From there, it was just a shallow step towards the anxiety that polluted her mind with thoughts of failure. She began to doubt herself and soon she could even hear her classmates laughing at her and pointing fingers while calling her 'Zero' and 'embarrassment to the La Vallière name. Their echoes stung her very heart. Despair was claiming her and it hurt so, so much…

Louise almost started crying when a presence snapped her out of the self-imposed trance.

"It's alright Louise, calm down…" Saito whispered whilst wrapping her in a bear-hug from behind, his arms circling her waist and his chest pressing into her back "Copy my breathing. In-two-three, out-two, in-two-three, out-two… Don't fight your thoughts and don't try to force them out. Ignore and ride them out. Just focus on your breathing."

The sound of his words appeared to be calming her down. His touch was so warm and caring that she felt cocooned into a velvet flower. The discreet but soothing rose scent of his clothes, the strong but gentle hands that encircled her, the motion of his chest on her back and the sound of his minted breath… Nothing else mattered right now. She felt like she was falling asleep but was fully conscious. When she started mimicking his breathing patterns the feeling intensified. It was like she was diving within herself. However the deeper she went the more of the outside world she could sense. The light breeze that stroked her cheek, the warm rays of light that passed through the rustling leaves, the birds singing in the distance, even the scurry of the insects in the court's ground. She couldn't describe what this was… It seemed like the whole area… no the whole country was…breathing… like it was alive and sentient. No matter what it was, it was beautiful…

Then all of a sudden she felt warmth rushing through her, like liquid fire running through her veins. It didn't hurt but she was hot. It was empowering her and with each second that passed she began to become more in tune with the world, while more and more energy rushed through her. The middle of her forehead began to burn and her heart felt like it expanded but it was not uncomfortable. She felt how the strange power emanated from just under her bellybutton, most of it going to the aforementioned places.

Louise felt… alive. An incomprehensible bliss overcame her. The way she was now it was like she could take on an army and come out the victor. And everything else seemed so clear. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. Turning her gaze to her surroundings she watched the leaves taking their time in falling to the ground. Her attention was then captured by a flock of wild pigeons taking off from the top of a nearby tower and she watched each beat of their wings and each subtle motion of their tails and feet in sheer fascination. Was the world always so beautiful and complex?

She wanted to see more, every budding of a flower, every little flutter of a butterfly's wings and every… satisfied smile of her familiar. **Wait what?**

Louise finally noticed Saito's beaming smile. It was the kind of smile that was full of pride and satisfaction, like those that teachers always give their students when they accomplish something grand. Then she realized that he must know what she was feeling… ~how~ she was feeling. Was this his goal?

The little mage finally let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and the feeling slowly but surely began to withdraw but not without leaving an afterglow. Even if she was losing all that strength, she still felt calmer and more focused.

"What was that?!" Louise finally asked.

For the first time since they had been acquainted, the warrior broke into a heavy laughter, the sound of his manly voice carried itself through the empty courtyard. Louise couldn't help but pout. Why did she have to have such a troublesome familiar? Couldn't he just answer the question?

Even though he was still laughing, Saito actually managed to answer "That Louise *ha-ha* was life force *aha-ha*! And I'm not laugh- *ha-ha* laughing at you, but *haha*, it's just that I fe- *oh goodness-haha* felt the same when I first *oh- hahaha* did this!" said the young warrior making his master sigh and sway her head from side to side with a smile.

Saito then took a sharp intake of air "Okay, enough fun, let me calm down… Good. Now, you probably want me to detail this a little bit, right?"

Louise nodded.

The boy mimicked her "As I said Louise, what you felt was called life force. Now life force is essentially the thing that makes you 'alive'. It carries many names. Some people call it stamina, others call it youth, some cultures call it chakra, ki and chi. Do you know what mages call it?"

This time the little mage in training shook her head.

"Mana." Saito answered for her and her eyes shot wide.

"Wait a minute!" Louise all but shouted "That's not how mana feels! Even if I fail all my spells I can at least gather mana in my wand!"

Saito lifted an eyebrow "And how does it feel then? Let me guess. When you gather mana it feels powerful yet sluggish and heavy, like thick honey flowing through your arm. You then try to squeeze it out because it feels like it would just flow back in your body if you don't causing you to pull harder and harder until all of a sudden an immense surge rushes forward and you lose control causing a big boom, right?"

That was no question, that was a statement and Louise's facial expression was more than enough to prove that he was right.

The warrior continued "I thought so…"

"How?" breathed Louise. She was having troubles keeping her composure as her familiar read her like an open book.

Saito chuckled kindly and patted her head "Quite simple my apprentice… It's a mistake most initiates make. Magic-born people have the ability to instinctively control the flow of mana. However this ability goes against the natural flow. Most mages from the younger worlds don't bother learning magic by meditating. They rely on words of power to control their innate energy and channel it through a focus, like a wand for example. However this process is the same as ripping a child from a mother's womb beca-"

"What!?" interrupted Louise in a scream. "But ma-"

The boy raised a hand signaling her to stop "I know, however this is because life force doesn't exist solely to power spells. It is the thing that gives us life, makes us breathe, our hearts beat and arms move. It drives our lives, makes us want to eat good food, realize our dreams. Essentially… it is what makes us, well **us**. Without it we would be no different than a rock." He explained in a serious tone "It flows through our bodies like a river, feeding our existences. As mages we have larger than average flows or reserves if you would call it that. They grow and collect limitlessly every time we eat, sleep, study or enjoy ourselves and we consume it by casting spells or enhancing our bodies. However this last part can be damaging. The original purpose of life force was to, for a lack of a better description, feed our bodies and our drives to succeed. Understand what I'm telling you until now?"

Louise frowned and rubbed her forehead a little "A bit. I still don't get what I did wrong when I gathered mana."

Saito thought about it and then answered "Let's use an example. Imagine that in your body there are pipes starting from just below from the center of your belly. They lead everywhere, like the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, arms, legs and your head. Through them flows life force or mana. This energy is needed by every one of them to function thus keeping you alive. Have you got the picture down?"

The little mage nodded, her face looking deep in concentration.

"Good. Now imagine casting a spell. You need mana for it but the only place to get it from is the pipe system. So, like any other mage in Tristain you start channeling it towards your stave. Also, like any other mage you don't exactly care where you draw it from as long as it is within your body. Right?"

Again he received a nod.

Saito smirked "Well then what would happen if say, you suddenly took the life force going to your heart? For it to beat it needs life force so…" he let the question float in the air whilst he waited for Louise's answer.

He was not disappointed when her eyes shot open in terror "I-I would… die…" she whispered hoarsely.

The familiar patted her head again to calm her "Don't be afraid. If you could do that so easily than all mages in Halkeginia would be dead by now. That is because the body has safety features built inside. Besides prioritizing the need to live over the need to cast a spell, each organ also has a little reserve of life force that takes a long time to consciously access but it automatically uses it when the flow is cut off." he chuckled when he saw her cute relieved expression.

Saito continued "However, it is because of this safety that magic requires study and preparation. It is the reason you need to learn magic to use it and not be able to, let's say, shoot fireballs from your cradle years. You need to know how to move your life force and use magical words to help you focus and manage your will."

"Will?" asked a confused Louise. She was confused because they were talking about mana previously. Now a new factor entered the discussion.

Saito nodded seriously "Yes, will. Will is how you exert your influence on mana to form spells. If you compare mages to sculptors, mana is the raw wood or any other material and will is the hammer and chisel or if you want to you can call life force physical energy and will, mental or spiritual energy. This is the reason experienced mages need not word a spell to cast it. Magical words help focus your will in the desired way. It takes either concentration formed through discipline or force of habit gained through experience to skip the words. Well that is, except Vs'shtak Xanalre. Vs'shtak is not formed of words per say but of concepts."

"Concepts?" asked Louise.

"Yes, concepts… It is too complicated to explain all at once as it requires a lot of studying to fully grasp the meaning. However I will use a relatively simple analogy. Picture everything you know as a book. The words in this super book represent everything that exists. A line from this book could say 'Fire, is hot, burns, has colors…' and so on. If the word hot disappeared then nobody could cook food using fire. Another line could read 'Water is wet, it flows…' you get the idea. Those are 'concepts'. We will leave it at this for now.

Let us return to our original subject: life force or mana." Saito dismissed.

He then continued "Now then, the question was why did it feel so… liberating when you meditated and why it is so different when doing magic. Not to mention your inability to cast any form of magic except the big 'kabooms'." The warrior joked and nearly jumped out to hug the life out of his master when she pouted with a blush.

"The reason is that compared to when you tried to go against the natural flow of mana by channeling it into a spell, this time you submerged your consciousness into the current and let it 'show' you the path. Simply put, you became one with yourself. I know this can be confusing but hear me out. When you emptied your mind of insecurities and memories of bad experiences you could finally get to know your true self as a part of nature. The world is just as much of a living being as you are. True, it will never read a book, but it has a body. The rivers, seas and oceans are its blood, the ground is its flesh, the trees are its lungs, the mountains are its head and so on. It is constantly changing and evolving and will continue to do so until the end of all life on it.

And don't forget you have a Primordial Power in you. Affinities help with the efficiency of a certain element. If a fire mage casts a water spell, he or she would consume three or more times the mana needed for a fire spell of similar magnitude. However, Primordial Powers are special. They not only increase efficiency for the affinity but also boost the potency of the mage's mana.

In simpler form, trying to **force** ~our~ mana to conform to our wishes is like trying to cut a grain of sand in half with a sledgehammer '_or to kill a mosquito with a thermonuclear device_'.

So when you stopped fighting the flow, it was like you stopped trying to bottle a fireball, and eventually you stopped trying to be something you are not. You were so focused on becoming the perfect noble that you lost sight that you are still Louise."

The little mage did not like the way he put it so she crossed her arms and pouted cutely "Did you fall on your head or something? How could I not know who I am?"

Saito laughed whole-heartedly at her jab. It was normal for someone of her upbringing and past to reject critiques addressed to them, no matter how true it was. However her petite form, beauty and reactions made it so you just couldn't take them seriously.

"I knew it!" she pointed at the familiar "You were making fun of me!"

Saito instantly stopped laughing and his face changed from an amused expression to an ice-cold seriousness "Do you really think of me so lowly master?" he asked making Louise flinch "After all I have done so far, do you think of me as one who would laugh at another's misfortune? Am I really that disgusting in your eyes?"

"I-I…" the little one stuttered, words leaving her at the moment

"Answer me Louise!" ordered Saito with more force in his voice.

"I d-didn't mean…" she began but took a mental step backwards when she caught sight of her familiar's piercing eyes. She felt her own well up and sensed a trickle down her cheeks "_Please…_" she whispered, the salty liquid of her swallowed tears making it hard to speak "_Please, don't be m-mad at me… I-I wouldn't know what to do if you a-abandoned me too…"_ she continued almost inaudibly the experience from the night she found him in Kirche's room still vivid in her mind.

She almost broke down in a hard cry when Saito wrapped his arms around her "As long as these runes are here, that will never happen. I**.** will**.** never**.** abandon you! However, you know exactly what to do in a situation such as this, don't you my beloved master?"

Her sobs slowly died down and she nodded in his chest "Yes… _I'm sorry!_" she whispered.

Saito smiled whist gently caressing her back "Apology accepted with no hard feelings." he answered before continuing while he wiped her face with a handkerchief "This was a good example of how your own thoughts hurt you and those close to you. When you meditated, you let them go, not caring anymore. That was when you got to know the real you: The Louise that was buried underneath the weight of responsibilities of being a daughter of the 'La Vallière' family and the need to be a perfect 'noble', the Louise that was slowly eaten away by the sorrows of her undeserved failures and the ridicules of her peers, of her own underestimation of her own worth, beauty and personality…" Saito said with a strong voice and serious demeanor whilst Louise was watching with her eyes wide in fascination and surprise.

Then, just like that, his features softened as he cupped her cheek. She brought her own hand on top of his and closed her eyes trying to concentrate on his warm and rough but gentle touch "I am talking about the kind Louise who doesn't belittle servants and doesn't harm an undeserving soul. The strong Louise who, even under the weight of all that peer pressure and the strikes of all that ridicule would always bounce back up, defiantly staring down anyone and everyone who would dare cross her. The beautiful Louise, who is cute enough to conquer the heart of a demon, yet carries an air of sophistication and maturity beyond her age. That is the Louise you once lost and now found…"

He ended his declaration and looked at the mage in his hand only to nearly fall over in surprise. She was blushing atomic red. It was so bright that it started attracting insects to her face like a bug zapper. And he nearly winced when he felt how burning hot it was and saw steam coming out of her ears.

Even so he couldn't help but smile kindly 'Figures…' he thought 'Poor girl was probably never complimented so much in her entire life combined, only ridiculed, and for something out of her control. To have someone point out the flaws and then completely shatter them with compliments and words of encouragement… whoops! I nearly let out the psychologist in me. But still, this is the first case I've met where the _carrot and stick_ method worked so… completely. Well one thing is for sure, I swear I will not let my Louise go through that kind of downgrading again! Wait! **My **Louise? Where did that come from? I know I care for her but to that extent already? Meh, I'll ride this out for now… We have more immediate things to do.'

"Well that concludes the theoretical knowledge for the day. Do you have any more questions?" the boy asked but received no answer. He looked at Louise and found her still dazed, the little mage trying to bury her still red face in his hand "Mistress?" he called but she still didn't answer so he gently pulled his hand away. "Louise…" he spoke softly and, together with the action of removing his hand, finally brought the girl to her senses.

"Saito… I, th-th-aank y-" the mage stuttered but he shushed her with a finger on her lips.

"If you wish to express your gratitude than I only ask that you will always remember my words. And remember the feeling of your life force whenever things just seem to go sour. It will help you more than anything." He then pulled her into a tight embrace to which she offered no resistance "And one last thing: I am very, very, **very** proud of you and always will be as long as you take my teachings to heart!"

They spent a few seconds like so before Saito thought about what they accomplished until now. Louise managed to reach her lifestream in roughly half an hour which made him a little jealous since that beat his record by more than two and a half hours. But that was crushed by the pride he felt for her. They also got quite a bit of theory done in just about an hour. Considering that breakfast was at roughly half past seven that meant they still had about an hour of training time left before breaking off to eat. He thought a little if he should move on or call it enough for now when he got a brilliant idea.

He then tapped her on the shoulder and asked "Louise, would you like to start learning a spell or two now?"

The little mage heard that and snapped away from his chest, her eyes gleaming with hope and surprise "Really?"

Saito chuckled kindly and patted her head making her smile in satisfaction. She was getting addicted to having his hand caress her crown "Yes. Learning to access your lifestream, the flow of your life force, was the very basic of basic magical skills I needed to show you, but from now on it will be your most important skill. Remember that feeling all your life. So let's begin, okay?"

She nodded furiously, her soul burning with excitement.

Saito began "Don't get too heated up now, they are simple skills that are useful but not that flashy. You may have even heard of them: Levitation and Arcane Dispel."

Louise deflated when she heard the first so called spell "But, I already learned Levitation in the first academy year." She half-complained half-stated a fact.

Saito raised an eyebrow but kept smiling "Really?!" he answered in pretend awe "Then can you please demonstrate it for me? Also remember the feeling you had when you reached your life force. Trust me it will be easier that way." he asked.

The little mage's expression filled with terror. The last time she tried to levitate, well… let's just say that it wasn't a very happy memory. But her pride as a 'noble' was beginning to override her fears, and coupled with the desire to not fail her familiar's/teacher's expectations, finally made her decide to give it a try.

She got up and walked a little ways towards the academy. Gripping her stave tighter she could now feel the energies coursing through the magical instrument. Unlike before when she felt it like a part of herself now she could also feel its true potential. It was amazing. Nothing could compare with this focus and she was sure that she could probably never go back to strictly using wands ever again.

Louise snapped out of her mini-daze and relaxed her stance. With her eyes closed in concentration and taking a deep breath, she raised her staff in one hand, focused on her mana, feeling it flow like a raging river of molten fire. It warmed her up on the inside, made her feel invincible, her mind becoming clearer and clearer by the second and so she began chanting the spell words perfectly. Normally, any second year mage didn't need it anymore as most fooled around with it since it was among the first they learned and also one of the most amusing thus learning it by heart. However the most Louise managed was to make an explosion under her feet that sent her flying. "_Nauditz sowilo berkanan ehwaz wunjo LEVITATION!_"

For the first split second nothing happened until a thin sphere of transparent light began to surround her and she slowly lifted off the ground. When she was about nine meters in the air she opened her eyes and was immediately surprised. She had succeeded in casting a spell on her own without explosion.

"Good job master!" shouted Saito from below however she was still in shock.

"_I did it…_" she whispered before a wide grin found its way on her face "I DID IT! Saito look I did it!" she shouted not noticing that the bubble flashed brighter for a bit.

"**You dummy, focus or you will - !**" began Saito but didn't get to finish as Louise blasted off in the air, zigzagging without a definite direction "… lose control of the spell…" he muttered in finality as his wings appeared on his back and he took off in pursuit.

Louise felt like she was thrown into a barrel and sent down a mountain side. The stupid spell was taking her for a ride against her will. She just wanted it to stop… '_I'm an idiot, all I have to do is…'_

The girl was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Saito shouting out at her "**Louise whatever you do, don't-!**"

He was too late as the little mage finished her plan

'-cut the mana flow!'/ "-**stop the flow of mana**!" both of them thought/shouted. The barrier was suddenly left without a power source and started wobbling and rippling like it was boiling. However contrary to what Louise thought, the barrier didn't shimmer out of existence letting her fall gently to the ground but it flashed three times in rapid succession before exploding with the force of a large stick of dynamite.

The little mage plummeted towards the ground, her scorched and dusty figure picking up speed by the moment. Then, just before she hit the earth, Saito swooped down and caught her in his arms bridal style. He looked at her and saw that the little mage was relatively unharmed except the swirly eyes and the dirty and ripped clothes.

"Wha-Wah happen'?" she mumbled, still in the drunken daze of the explosion.

"You cut off the flow of mana to the spell too suddenly causing a backflow that destabilized the matrix." Saito explain in a mater-of-fact way.

Louise shook her head to get rid of the dizziness "Come again?"

The warrior sighed "When you cast the spell you were essentially using mana to create the negative gravity territory. Basically, you were using it to push yourself off the ground. Now that bubble was the territory and it needed a constant pressure created by the flow of mana to prevent itself from collapsing. When you cut the flow, the remaining energy tried to return to you thus the whole thing became unstable causing it to break down. Normally that would make the bubble simply break down. However, the mana was imbued with the power of Void so what would have been a simple 'pop' became a 'big boom'."

The girl listened intensely to his words. It was the first time she had even partial success in casting a spell. To find that it went haywire because of a blunder saddened her but also made her more determined to fully succeed "So it exploded because I stopped channeling the spell? What do I do then?"

Saito chuckled "First of all you have to practice until levitating is almost instinctual. When that happens you will not begin buzzing around like a one winged mosquito even when you lose focus. To prevent your channeled spells from exploding, you just have to slowly reduce the flow, not stop it so suddenly. It is that simple."

After he set her down she tried again and this time it seemed like she had been born with the ability for this spell. After floating around a bit to get used to the feeling she saw her familiar waving for her to land. She concentrated on the flow and slowly reined it in floating slowly towards the ground.

Saito felt his heart skip as he saw her beaming smile. Louise looked so contempt and happy, like a child on her birthday. Well time for the next present "I have interrupted you so we can begin work on the Arcane Dispel."

Louise's eyes went wide at the prospect of another spell "What kind of spell is it?"

The boy began scratching his chin "Hmm… it's not as much as a spell as it is a skill…" he answered whilst thinking of the best way to explain.

"Skill?" asked Louise in confusion.

Saito nodded "Yes, skill. As the name indicates, it is used to dispel arcane spells and their effects. By saturating a small amount of mana with your will and injecting it into a spell you can cancel it out. Also, it doubles as a good mana channeling exercise because you don't use spell words to cast it although at your level, you still need a focus, a wand or stave for example. By the way, arcane spells are the ones that use willpower to form so it won't work against say… spirit magic."

"What use is a spell that cancels spells? And what is spirit magic? I know of spirits but I don't know of any magic related to them." she asked in mild frustration. She wanted to learn to cast powerful spells, actually even little spells will do not erase them.

Saito chuckled kindly and placed his hand on her head. A few minutes ago he had realized that this habit of his calmed her down and made her listen better. If he thought about it, his first apprentice also reacted like this but he had thought that it was like so because she was a child of merely eleven, fascinating…

"First of all, spirit magic is magic that uses spirits to form. To do this you connect to the spirits of nature, usually lesser ones and 'ask' them to help you and in exchange they take mana as payment. Elves generally tend to use this form of magic as they are more attuned to nature. As for the second question, this skill will help you control other spells easier because like I said, instead of words, you will try to channel your mana directly. Also, to cast Arcane Dispel, you need to learn how to consciously sense another mage's mana flow like when you first started meditating and began to feel the world around you. Tell me how did my presence feel?"

Louise closed her eyes and tried to remember that specific moment and the more she remembered the better she understood his point "It felt so… strong and overwhelming, like a storm or a volcano… but also wild and gentle, as if it belonged in the world. I also felt like it was contained, like a fire in a bottle… wow."

Saito nodded "That kind of sense only happens when you meditate or have a lot of experience in detecting life force. Well there are geniuses who are born with the ability but they are rare. They are expert trackers and are almost impossible to escape." He explained…

"However, in your case, you don't need that level of sense to cast Arcane Dispel. You will eventually get it if you stick to meditation but just by the simple connection you achieved with your life force, you should now be able to sense every life force and mana use around you up to a certain distance depending on the power although not with the same precision as that time. Also, the stronger the mage or the spell used the greater the distance. That distance will increase the more you meditate. Right now I can tell that the person in third room on the second floor of the girl's dorm is using a water spell. The person in the room next to it is levitating something. There are now one hundred and seventy three people in the academy, and judging by the life force they have, thirty eight are the staff. I can also tell that Sir Osmond is heading towards the lunch hall. If I focus enough I could even sense the number of people in the town we went since I have practicing meditation since I was ten."

Louise scoffed "And how does that help me? I'll admit that it's something different than usual but I still can't see the use."

"And if an enemy assassin were to be sneaking behind you?" Saito asked in amusement.

The little mage in training's eyes went wide in understanding. "I would sense them before they would strike!" With this skill nobody could get a drop on her and that was especially useful considering her nobility.

Saito nodded with a smile before his expression became serious "With enough practice you can fuse your life force with nature's energy to become virtually invisible to this sense but it's nearly impossible for us due to our Primordial Affinities. But I think I can go wild on this and guess that most, if not all humans in Halkeginia don't even know about life force, am I right?"

Louise nodded in excitement, finally seeing the worth of the teaching.

Saito smiled and continued "Okay, let's get to work. We have around forty more minutes until breakfast so let's make the most of it.

There are three steps in casting Arcane Dispel: First is sense. You must sense the flow and quantity of the mana used in a spell before or after it was cast. We covered that already; Second is saturation. When you do that you begin to channel and charge your stave or wand with an appropriate amount of life force and imbue it with your will. To do that you simply yell the word '**stop!**' in your mind; The last step is projection. It is the step when you inject that collected energy inside the mana of your target forcing it to destabilize and eventually stop. Following me so far?"

He received a nod.

"Okay, now I will cast some simple wind spells and you will try to dispel them. Ready?"

Louise gripped her stave and began focusing on both of their mana flows. She could feel Saito's energies rise. She didn't know how she did it, but it was like that feeling you get when you think someone is following you. Your whole body tenses up and your senses amplify. It was just like that. She then concentrated on her own power. In the past she would try to squeeze it out like ketchup from a bottle but this time she was simply guiding and redirecting it towards her hands and her stave.

Saito seeing her ready began to do something he hadn't done for a year and a half: He started to slowly chant a simple spell in Griholan, also known as the Fairy Language. Normally, he would usually just skip them, however this was necessary for Louise as it prolonged the charge time allowing her to get used to the Arcane Dispel "_Iru, iru, ascuta mi voci, sulfa blande inspru diritia digita, VAL VANTA!"_

All this time, Louise was trying to do as he instructed her 'Sense the flow…' she thought and focused on her familiar. By the time he got to '_mi_' she thought she managed to get it. 'Gather mana and think 'STOP!'' she continued whilst channeling mana to her stave. As soon as she thought the word, the magical focus began to heat up signaling her that it was ready. 'And project it into his mana.'

With a final mental heave and a flick of her stave, she flung the compressed energy towards Saito's outstretched finger. It looked like a bolt of white lightning was racing towards her familiar. However, as soon as it hit, it shattered like cheap glass just as the said boy finished his chant and a gust of wind hit her head on and ruffling her clothes and hair.

After the winds stopped Louise fell on her knees in disappointment "_What did I do wrong?_" she whispered more to herself…

"You didn't consider just who your opponent was." She heard Saito answer. Louise turned her gaze towards him, hoping against hope that she didn't fail him. The little mage looked at his face, but contrary to her thoughts, she found a cheeky grin plastered on his face making her frown a little "That was a very good attempt…" Saito applauded "If it had been any other mage then you would have surely succeeded." He said making her eyes go wide "But… I countered your attempt. You could say I dispelled your dispel." Saito finished with a wide grin.

For a few seconds Louise froze from shock. But as soon as that wore out, she began fuming "YOU TRICKED ME!" she pointed at the boy who kept his smirking face.

"Not so much as trick as taught you something else…"

Louise huffed and crossed her arms "Like what? How to embarrass myself?" she growled. The nerve of this familiar! She had a good mind to teach him a lesson. Those thoughts vanished when she felt his gentle touch on her head.

"No. I wanted you to see that Arcane Dispel is not infallible. It depends on both your skill and your opponent's skill. Since it's based on your own will and power, it may not work against headstrong or powerful mages, get it?"

The little mage slowly nodded in understanding and surprise. She didn't have enough time to ponder the rest as her stomach growled in protest making her blush in embarrassment.

Saito raised an eyebrow and pulled up his left sleeve to reveal a strange rectangle shaped silver crystal strapped on the top of his wrist. The little gem glowed and a projection shot thirty centimeters above it showing strange symbols. Well, strange for Louise that is. They were familiar to Saito and they read "Exactly seven sharp. Is it possible you swallowed a clock when you were little mistress?" he joked before ducking a wild swing of her stave. "Okay, okay! I apologize for my comments! No need for violence!" he said with his arms raised in front of his chest.

"Hmph!" Louise scoffed "You have some nerve! Poking fun of your master like that…" she fumed "I won't forgive you just like that!"

Saito smiled kindly at her antics "I really am sorry Louise." He tried to apologize "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

The little mage turned her eyes to the side and sent him a sharp glare "Get down here." She finally said, her face still locked in a pout.

"Sorry?"

"You heard me! Kneel!"

Saito's face took on a surprised expression before he shrugged and got down on a knee. Louise slowly stomped towards him, the air around her feeling heavy and full of rage making the warrior sweat drop. When she reached the place just in front of him she just stood there staring him down like she wanted to crush him with her gaze.

A few moments later she grabbed the underside of his chin with both hands. However, whatever Saito was expecting was instantly shattered when she bent forward and kissed his right cheek making him blush a nice pink color.

Not to say Louise was any better since as soon as she retreated you could see the atomic red that was her face.

"_Louise…_" he whispered whilst bringing his hand to where she had placed her lips.

"D-d-don't get a-any bright ideas, t-that was a t-thank y-y-you! Yeah, j-just thanking you for today!" she stuttered while looking away from him.

Saito snapped from his shock and brought her into a tight hug. "W-what are you d-doing you crazy familiar?" she protested in surprise and embarrassment but offered no resistance.

"There is no need to thank me master. All of today's successes were the result of your own effort and talent. In fact, even on Anhew, a place filled with mages that make Sir Osmond look like a child, you would be considered a prodigy. During today's events you did not exceed my expectations… you shattered them mercilessly. Everything you accomplished earlier, I was sure would take a month to do so. Much like your rune name 'Zero', you erased your inability to cast magic 'The power to reduce anything to zero'.

Her eyes shot wide when she heard his words and remembered that she could finally cast magic. She could finally feel the joy her classmates levitated and maybe receive some praise from her teachers… 'teachers'… no she couldn't use that word anymore. Those people didn't deserve that title. It wasn't completely their fault that they didn't know how to fix her skills but as long as they claimed and prided themselves in that position they should have. All her life she was blamed by most of them for something out of her control, for something her wonderful familiar, her true friend, had fixed in less than two hours. Saito… her amazing companion… Powerful, wise, skilled, but above all kind, caring and compassionate. Deep down she thought that for the first time, the abilities of the familiar didn't represent the skills of the mage, and that she had been truly blessed to have him. Right and wrong Louise, right and wrong…

Louise's stomach protested louder this time, snapping both out of their daze and making Saito smile kindly "Let's head for breakfast."

The little mage nodded and proceeded to walk besides him. At one point however she realized that they weren't heading in the right direction "Saito, this isn't the way to the dining hall." she stated.

Saito smiled at her "I know. But I thought we could celebrate this little special occasion so I wanted to see if I could bother the chef into making something grander, for a fee of course."

"Why a fee? It's their duty to comply with requests." Louise corrected him in a true 'noble' fashion.

Saito shrugged "That may be so but I would feel bad to add to their workload out of selfish reasons without proper compensation."

The little mage scoffed "The happiness of their nobles is the greatest reward for a commoner."

Saito swayed his head from side to side and sighed "Again, that could be true. However, the noble's happiness does not put food on his table, nor does it keep his family warm in the winter."

L: "The noble cares for them. Besides he receives pay from the academy."

S: "His wage is given to him in return for making breakfast, lunch and dinner according to every custom of each country, **not** to cater to selfish requests."

L: "A noble's request to a commoner is not selfish. I told you, it's their duty to listen to the nobles."

S: "So commoners can't decide their own fate or settle their own needs and desires, except if they coincide with their master's wishes. In the end they have no higher standing than livestock. Disgusting…"

L: "No! Commoners cater to the little things while the noble protect them and care for their wellbeing!"

S: "And what stops nobles from abusing the commoners?"

L: "Their honor."

Saito scoffed "Forgive me if I fail to believe that that will ever be enough."

Just as Saito finished his sentence they reached the kitchen area. As soon as they opened the door, Saito felt an oppressive aura floating around and looked around seeing that everyone was slightly depressed. Due to her sensitivity,

"Good morning everyone!" Saito greeted startling everyone and making them turn their attention towards him. The entrance was only wide enough to fit one person so it looked like he was alone as Louise trailed behind.

"Our guardian!" the Chef greeted cheerfully.

Saito raised an eyebrow "Guardian?"

The Chef punched his hand "Yeah! You stood up for us in front of that noble and handed his pompous and pristine rear end to him on a silver platter and then made him apologize to Siesta by holding his nuts hostage." He laughed whole-heartedly. "The names Marteau by the way…"

"Saito Hiraga or just Saito and it was no problem mister Marteau. Neither Siesta nor any one of you did anything deserve such degrading insults. I only did what I considered that any person should do." answered Saito a little shyly. He was never one for receiving praise, especially considering Corvine's teaching style. "And speaking of Siesta, is she making her rounds now?" he asked seeing that the maid was not with the rests of the ensemble.

They immediately returned to their sorrowful attitude and it was finally Marteau who answered "I guess she didn't tell you…"

"Tell me what?" Saito began to worry.

"She has received a transfer. She left for Count Mott's castle earlier this morning." Marteau answered with withheld rage.

Saito's eyes shot wide "She asked for a transfer? Why?"

Marteau frowned "She didn't ask for a transfer, she was asked for."

It was Saito's turn to frown "I don't understand."

Marteau continued "When a noble asks for you there is no way you can oppose it. Mott came a few days ago to deliver a message to the headmaster from the Royal Court and during this time he must have fancied Siesta. His taste for cute girls and beautiful women is known far and wide. He will most surely make her his next mistress before throwing her away like a used rag when he gets bored of her. And the worst thing is that neither us nor the poor girl can do anything about it. She was so happy working here, especially after you made it clear that she is not to be harmed in any way. Damn blasted nobles!"

Saito stood still, his hair ominously covering his eyes. His whole body now trembled with rage and his fingernails drew blood as he clenched his fists hard "Is this… the nobility's 'honor'… Louise?" he asked the girl who was standing just a little ways to the right of the entrance. She hadn't said a word until now because she felt that she had no right. Just earlier they were talking about the relationship between noble born and common people and the abuse the lesser people could suffer at the hands of their noble masters. Anything she said or could say in the nobility's defense was firmly and violently crushed by Mott's actions. Sure, he was the Court's official messenger but that didn't mean he should do things like this even if he could. It's mages like this that sometimes made her question her own status.

Marteau's face lost color "Lady Vallière! I didn't know you were there! I am sor-" he began hoping to save his job but stopped when Saito raised his arm signaling him.

"You don't have to fear my master Mister Marteau so speak your mind." said Saito, his eyes never leaving the shadows of his bangs.

"B-But, I don't want to lo-"

"Whatever you say will neither be held against you nor will it leave this room nor will my master harm you for expressing yourself…" Saito calmed him once again before turning his head slightly towards Louise "That is, if the said master still desires to continue our lessons after today…" he said with finality making her flinch. She kept looking at him for a few seconds in surprise before turning to Marteau and nodding slightly.

Marteau seeing this became saddened and seeing the sharp faced mountain of a man nearly break down and cry was something else "What is there to say? This is the way of this world and there is nothing we can do to change it. I am lucky that I got this nice job but not all commoners are so lucky. Most have to work the fields until they drop, under harsh conditions only for their so called 'noble caretaker' to take most of their hard earned crops as payment and tax for using their lands. I even know families that have not survived the winter due to starvation.

And poor Siesta's case is not a rare occurrence. Some don't even care if the women are married and have children. But again there is nothing we can do about it since the same nobles are also the ones who are in charge of local justice and most if not all commoners don't have the funds or renown to appeal to higher justice like the Royal Palace. Those people don't even give you the time of day if you don't blow fifty ecu towards them and that's more than most make in half a year." The man growled.

He then continued in a louder tone of voice "Even here… I may sound selfish but… in all the years I have worked here I have not received a simple thank you from any of those lordly snot faced brats for the food that I wake up three hours before sunrise to make, not to mention the preparation it takes the previous day, but they are quick to shout me down when it doesn't have enough salt or nitpicks like that. If not I then the maids…" he paused and moved near a girl that looked to be Siesta's age.

She seemed more withdrawn than the others there and half her face was covered by her hair. Marteau then gently pulled away the hair revealing a nice purple cheek and eye "This is the thanks that some if not most of these ladies received or will eventually receive. Selené here apparently got hers for 'not doing her job properly'. Let me translate that: She went to clean the noble's room and following procedure, she opened the window to freshen the air. However the noble returned just before she finished her job and apparently didn't like the scent of clean air so he asked her to change it back. You can imagine what happened when she said she couldn't…" he finished off squeezing the now sobbing girl's hand hoping to calm her down.

"And this is just the cream of the crop!" Marteau finally screamed "If it were up to us, we would take all the magic in the world and burry it at the bottom of the ocean! Damn magic and damn nobility! I would like to know what would happen if there weren't any commoners in the world. What would those nobles do then? Who would take care of their precious little selves?"

Saito said nothing and just slowly made his way towards the maid. He gently parted the hair away from her face and softly touched the swollen skin. Selené flinched under his touch and closed her eyes preparing for the worst. However what came was a calming and soothing sensation. When she opened them she saw his hand lightly glowing and felt the inflammation lessen until it finally disappeared.

The warrior then turned on his heel and headed for the entrance, on his way grabbing a piece of pie from the table. He stopped before exiting the kitchen "Fear not mister Marteau, I'll get Siesta back from the Count."

Marteau's eyes widened "Don't be rash. Count Mott isn't one to be trifled with. He won't let go of Siesta if he set his eyes on her."

Saito looked towards the ceiling in thought. He remembered the cheerful and kind maid that became his first true friend in this new world, even before Louise. Reminiscing on her warm smile and klutzy demeanor he couldn't stop a smile.

"I wouldn't be much of a 'guardian' if I didn't at least try…" and with that he finally left, followed closely by a shaken Louise.

The little mage thought about what she had heard now. Was the commoners' situation really that bad? She was raised by her father to be proud of her noble status but also not to mistreat the plebian people… To think that the real world like that, and right under her nose. Speaking of nose, she was brought out of her thoughts by a nice scent. She looked in front of her face to see a piece of pie that was held by her familiar.

"Eat. Your stomach has been voicing itself for a while now." Saito spoke without looking at her.

Louise took the food in her own hand, holding it by the napkin that Saito also took from the kitchen "What about you?"

"I ate just before waking you up so you can have it all." The boy lied, but he was more used to working on an empty stomach than her.

Louise nodded before taking a bite out of the desert. As she chewed, she began remembering Marteau's words. She couldn't think of any student offering their compliments to the Chef. Every dish he served was flawless and tasted divine, yet nobody, not even her, ever voiced this. Instead they took every chance to complain like they hunted for those mistakes, mistakes that they used to differentiate themselves from commoners. Common belief: Noble - perfect, plebian – flawed.

"What will you do now?" she finally summoned the courage to ask though she already knew his answer and the worst thing was that there wasn't anything she could do to stop him. She couldn't help feel irked that he would go so far to save another woman. He was her familiar.

"I will save my friend." Saito answered with a growl.

The little mage became worried "Don't do anything to provoke him! Count Mott is a triangle-class water mage called Mott of the Wave and so is a lot stronger than Guiché." she tried to dissuade him from his endeavor.

Saito petted her head but she still couldn't see his eyes or face "Don't worry… I won't do anything to him unless he attacks me first without proper reason. Besides, if I was going to his castle to fight him I wouldn't be thinking of talking to him …"

He stopped and stood still for a bit before he turned towards her making her flinch at the sight of his dark sclera and burning red pupils "I would be thinking of how to **scrape what's left of him off my shoes**… **OSIRIS!**"

The specific thundering noise made by the drakes's vanishing powers began few moments after he shouted and in three seconds the massive lizard landed in front of him in the Vestri Court. Luckily all students except Louise were enjoying breakfast so there was no one left to see him. The privacy wards he set up beforehand also helped at this. After all you can't have shouting and explosions in the main courtyard and not expect visitors if you don't take precautions.

"Just so you know Louise, Siesta took extra care of both of us when you fell unconscious after the incident with Sir Guiché." The warrior said as he petted the drake.

"That was her du-"

"No, her duty was to make sure the premises were clean. But she came to your room more often than required, changed your clothes, wiped your body of sweat and many more. It was beyond her pay to do things like that but still she did. You know why? Because she is just that kind and contrary to what you may feel, I'm not doing this because I want something from her."

"I'm not-"

Saito lifted his left hand and showed the rune. Oh yeah, she forgot about the mental link…

The warrior jumped on the drake and kept petting the massive creature that started purring.

Louise just looked on waiting for him to take off so she could start worrying. However he just kept petting the drake.

The little mage got curious "What are you waiting for?"

Saito turned to her with a 'are you serious expression' "You. I'm waiting for you to get on. You didn't think I would leave you here did you?"

"Eh?"

The dimensional jumper flicked his finger making Louise float and land in his lap "I don't know the way to Mott's castle so you'll have to come with me." Saito then snapped his fingers and Louise's clothes shined a bit before shattering, revealing her academy uniform.

The little mage looked at her attire in surprise before turning towards him scowling "Couldn't you have done this before? Like when I asked you to dress me?"

Saito chuckled "No because you would have become lazy. Magic requires discipline not tardiness and if I had made a habit out of this then you would have learned nothing. I told you that you will learn how to do this eventually so consider it incentive to press forward with your studies."

Louise sighed and pointed towards a direction "Go south-east from here towards the forest."

She didn't have anything more to say when Osiris took off with a mighty flap.

It didn't take the drake more than fifteen minutes to reach the castle. Well, the journey took ten and locating it took another five.

The drake and its riders circled the castle two times before landing in front of the castle kicking up the dust. Saito was the first on the ground before helping Louise off Osiris. The drake roared softly and took to the air.

The duo then approached a guard.

"Halt! State your business!" spoke the guard in a no-nonsense tone.

The little mage was about to introduce herself when Saito beat her to it "Watch your mouth commoner!" he began in a non-characteristic way surprising the girl "This is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, daughter of Duke La Vallère and I am her magical familiar. We come here to discuss special business with Lord Mott. You will take us to him immediately! Do I make myself clear?" he ordered.

The guard immediately straightened "Yes'sir! Please follow me to the waiting room and I will see if the Count is available."

After the guard left to check on Mott Louise turned towards Saito "What was that all about? I thought you hated that kind of talk."

Saito chuckled "Only when it hurts people. This was the quickest and relatively safest way to ensure our meeting with the Count. Though it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth when I shouted at the guard, even I have to admit that it was most effective. Also, I will handle Mott. You don't have to do anything, except play along"

Louise was surprised by his statement. She was even more surprised by his shrewdness. Her familiar always seemed to be the straightforward kind, one who would tear down a wall rather than go around it.

She didn't have time to think further due to the Count making his appearance together with a maid that brought a tray with different drinks and glasses. Saito was surprised by the man's appearance. He was expecting a pudgy and overdressed man not the presentable and relatively handsome man that entered through the doors of the room. True, he did look a bit like a peacock with the way his collar was designed but Saito guessed this was the style of the land.

The two teens rose and bowed in greeting, a gesture that Mott mirrored.

"Welcome!" the Count cheered "My servant told me that the daughter of Duke La Vallière had some business with me."

Saito took this as his cue "Greetings milord! It is an honor to finally get to know the famous Count Mott in person." He stroked the man's ego. As the famous Etherion, he had experience dealing with these kinds of personalities. Praising them was usually the way to get them to like you, and a person that likes you is more predisposed at lowering their guards.

His tactic worked if the large cocky smile on Mott's face was any indicator.

"The honor is all mine, erm…?"

"Oh, forgive my bad manners! My name is Saito, Saito Hiraga. I am Lady La Vallière's magical familiar." Saito said as he shook the man's hand.

"Oh, a human familiar, that is quite… unusual." The Count chimed.

"It's a testament to my master's power and skill. After all, the rarer the familiar the more special the mage. And not to brag or anything but I'm not a simple human myself." Saito countered as he pointed at a nearby golden chalice which started floating vertically.

"A noble?!" Mott nearly shouted in surprised.

"Something like that…" Saito stated "I'm actually the last of my family. We are from a faraway land and had no friends or things like that; you must know how that is for powerful people. So in truth this summoning was a blessing since nobody would miss me."

"Yes of course. It's hard for those in power to find people that they could trust. You have no idea how many people come to my so they could get in good with the court, me being the official palace messenger and all." The count puffed his chest. "I also see how this could be a blessing in your master's case. It would have been troublesome if she had kidnaped a noble heir."

Saito frowned "I will assume that those words were spoken out of concern otherwise, I will defend my master's honor Lord Mott."

Mott's eyes widened in surprised before he realized what he said "Oh dear, I apologize!" he raised his hands in front of his chest "I wasn't questioning your master's skills but merely stating a fact."

"Which is why I assumed the best." Saito smiled

Mott nodded before resuming "Forgive my bluntness but I think that you had some business to discuss."

Saito nodded and fished inside his coat pulling out a rather large, meter-long scroll "Indeed. Before I was summoned to be a familiar I was a scholar of sorts. I am quite proficient in most fields of study. Due to that I was able to assess the agricultural state of Tristain, and Halkeginia in general and found it terribly subpar. In response I designed a new irrigation and crop care plan that should increase production by at least a factor of six times." He said as he unfurled the scroll on the coffee table after moving the cups of tea. It was filled with different sketches, diagrams and a lot of writing in Halkeginian. This even got Louise curious.

Mott moved closer for a better look "Amazing…" he said after a few moments "And why did you bring this to me? If you went to the Court you would be heavily rewarded for this."

Saito chuckled as he rolled the scroll "True but we would have to audition the court and that could take months even for a La Vallière. And besides that, my master still has studies she needs to attend at the Academy. To be honest you were the closest noble to the academy that could secure an immediate link to the Royal Palace."

Mott nodded seriously "And you want me to deliver this for you?"

Saito nodded himself "Not without compensation of course. This new technology is based on the one of my homeland that has been tried and tested for decades. It is guaranteed to work and thus the compensation should be on par. What I am proposing is a deal…" he said as he took a sip of tea.

"I'm listening…" Mott ushered.

Saito threw his cards on the table "What I propose is that the La Vallière family receive six tenths of the reward and you keep the rest or we could sell you the rights immediately for twenty thousand ecus."

"TWENTY THOUSAND?!" the Count shouted so loud that the guards burst into the room. Mott shooed them away. "That's a lot of ecu Sir familiar."

Saito chuckled "It may seem so, but considering that most of a country's wealth is made from exporting food, the profit made would be enormous. To be frank, the only reason I'm giving you the opportunity to buy this is because we simply don't have the time to haggle with the people on top. It's guaranteed to be worth at least seven or eight times more than what I'm asking for which is why it's non-negotiable. Then again you could just take the first deal. Four tenths of that is nearly sixty-five thousand ecu, and that's just for being an intermediary."

Mott took on a thinking pose as his mind raced for ideas "Can I have some time to think about it?"

Saito scratched his chin "I would love to give you more time but the truth is that due to the requirements of the Academy we won't be able to come see you for a long while, month's at least. And during that time we might be forced to find someone else."

"I will come to the Academy next week if I decide it's worth the ecu or the risk. If not I will send a servant to inform you, I give you my word!"

Saito nodded with a smile "That works, it was a pleasure doing business with you Count."

"As was with you, Sir Familiar." Mott nodded.

Saito considered this the moment to sneak his true reason for coming here "By the way, we heard that you have visited the academy recently."

Mott nodded "Yes but what I was doing there is strictly confidential Royal Palace business."

"I have no doubt, but what I wanted to ask is that if you enjoyed your visit. The maids there are said to be the best in the world." Saito stated calmly.

The Count nodded "The reception was impeccable as always and yes, the maids are absolutely charming and well trained. I even had one transferred into my service just before I left." He stated with a rather large blush and grin.

Saito's eyes widened "Ah I heard of that. It was that dark haired one, Sie… something…"

"Siesta." Mott corrected "Quite a cute one she is."

"Oh do tell." The warrior insisted.

"She is an exotic one. It's rare to find hair like that, like yours for example. She is a hard worker too and very energetic." The Count stated like he was in his own world.

Saito then approached the Count "You had my curiosity but now you have my attention so I can't help but ask…Would you be willing to release her into my master's service?"

Mott's eyes went wide "She barely arrived and I am quite part-"

"How about three thousand ecu." Saito interrupted in a no-nonsense way making even Louise choke on her tea.

The Count closed his eyes in thought. A few moments passed before he returned to the conversation "That's a lot of ecu Sir familiar… It makes me wonder why would your master spend so much for a simple maid."

Saito's face split in a wide grin "Truth be told, it's not my master that would be acquiring her services."

Mott lifted and eyebrow for a second before he himself smirked "A fellow connoisseur I see… Very well, I will transfer Siesta to your care for the sum of three thousand ecu. I normally wouldn't let one so valuable and… inexperienced so cheaply but I see a kindred spirit in you."

Saito bowed "I am not your kindred spirit Lord Mott…" Saito stated making the man's eyebrow rise "After all, the world _'and my stomach' _can barely handle the 'greatness' of one Count Mott." he continued with a smile, the slight inflexion of the word 'greatness' being lost on the Count.

Mott broke into a healthy laugh "Quite right young one, quite right!"

The group slowly got up seeing that business was finished and proceeded to wish each other a pleasant afternoon. However when Saito bowed a small white object fell from the inside of his jacket at the Count's feet. The man bent down and picked it up.

Saito immediately pretended to be surprised "Oh dear, forgot about those stupid things."

"What is this?" the man asked as he shook the strange thing and heard a clanking sound inside, like rocks inside a wooden box.

The boy took the object from the Count's hands and popped the lid on it the showing shiny little red balls inside.

"This is a medicine I found somewhere near the eastern borders of Halkeginia a long time ago before I was summoned. It's called Vitalium… don't ask me how it got the name… and it's said to increase a man's… performance in bed." Saito explained getting Mott's attention and making Louise choke again. "It's said that a man who takes one of these will not be able to… calm down for half a day at least. I have not taken any of these since I am quite confident in both my youth and stamina, not to mention that my duties to my master don't allow me to have so much time. I have been looking to get rid of these things for a while but I keep forgetting." Saito lied.

"You can give them to me and I will dispose of them for you." The Count all but begged. 'Lecherous, dirty, raping bastard…' thought our hero with a mental cringe. The cringe turned to a real smile as he handed them to the man.

"Oh thank you milord, you are too kind." The boy praised the Count while thinking 'Hook, line and sinker…' before setting three bags with a thousand ecu each. "Three thousand ecu, as agreed upon. Do you wish to count them Count?"

The joke made everyone in the room laugh, except Louise who snorted in an amused fashion since laughing like that was unladylike.

"No, I trust the La Vallière." Mott refused before he turned to the maid standing by the door "Go tell the new one she is transferred into another's care."

Minutes later they were waiting by the door when Siesta came down the stairs. The moment she saw Saito she nearly had a heart attack but the warrior had the chance to subtly signal her to stay silent with his finger on his lips when the Count wasn't looking. Thankfully she got the idea.

Mott turned to her "Siesta, miss La Vallière here will be your new employer so make sure you give them the proper respect."

"Yes'sir!" she bowed to the man before bowing towards Louise "Thank you for hiring me miss La Vallière."

Louise gestured her to stop with her hand "You don't have to thank me Siesta. I only did it to keep this big lug of a familiar happy." She deadpanned and pointed towards Saito who smiled and started scratching the back of his head.

Siesta then smiled at Saito and bowed "Thank you mister familiar."

"No problem Siesta…" Saito stated with a serious voice "I hope you will be happy under our employment. Come along now!" he ushered her not wanting to spend another minute in this whorehouse "Good bye Count Mott!"

"A pleasant day to you too!"

And with that they exited the castle and headed for the Academy. It was a little over three in the afternoon when they arrived. Again it was Saito who first dismounted Osiris before helping the two off the drake.

"Miss Vallière, Saito…" the little maid began shyly "Thank you both for saving me from that place."

Louise sighed "Couldn't stop this knucklehead…" she pointed to Saito "...even if I tried. And don't call me Miss Vallière, it makes me feel old." She said while rubbing her temples.

"I understand miss Louise, and Saito…" she got his attention and captured his lips in a kiss "Thank you!" she chirped before scooting away.

Both Saito and Louise were in shock. Saito touched his lips with his hand. However he soon felt a strong killing intent directed at him. He turned around mechanically to find Louise. The said female mage had an aura of fire around her and shining eyes. She also had her stave at the ready. "Y-Y-You. Perverted. Cheating. Lecherous. DOG!"

Saito raised his hands to his chest "Can I at least say that it was just as surprising to me as it was to you?"

Louise barely heard him as she stomped towards him "No excuses! This is why you wanted to save that maid, isn't it? You need to be punished!"

The young man sighed and lowered himself on one knee, head down "If that is what you think then I won't stop you but I swear on my honor that this isn't what I planned. I care for my friends but I am loyal only to you, my kind and cute mistress."

The furious look on the mage's face was instantly replaced with a surprised and blushing one. Finally she frowned and sighed. Turning around she started walking towards the dorms muttering "What am I ever going to do with you, you troublesome familiar…" leaving Saito in a surprised state. "By the way, where did you get that scroll and th-that m-medicine?"

Saito smirked "The same place I got your clothes and the books I gave Professors Chevreuse and Colbert. I transmuted them from air. You didn't think I books in Halkeginian back on my world did you?"

This got Louise's attention "Eh, transmuted? Like alchemy?"

The dark haired boy nodded "Similar, yet more complex. Transmutation is much more efficient and allows shape change while alchemy only changes and element to another. This time I used it to create that little trap."

"Trap?" she asked.

Saito clarified "That 'medicine' is not without side effects. You don't think a man like Mott will throw them away do you?"

Louise shook her head with disgust. That kind of person gave all nobles a bad name.

"Neither did I when I gave them to him. In fact I was counting on him 'generously' offering to take them off my hands. The reason I said it was a trap is because if you take more than one every three days you will eventually become impotent."

The little mage blushed but couldn't help but smile "So Mott…"

Saito brought his hands behind his back and started whistling "…Will be left without a hard 'magic wand' for the rest of his life."

Louise then turned to him "But wouldn't he come after you for poisoning him?"

Saito chuckled "If I remembered correctly, he told me he will throw it away so taking them will be his responsibility. Also he never asked about side-effects." The chuckle turned into laughter as he imagined the face of the count when his tool stopped working.

The warrior then turned his gaze towards a bush "You can come out now… Miss Tabitha."

The said bush rattled before the said girl came out carrying a book in her hand, leaves sticking to her hair "Hello…"


End file.
